


Clones and Their Commander

by GettingTraught



Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-31
Updated: 2016-04-09
Packaged: 2018-05-30 05:26:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 42,295
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6410629
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GettingTraught/pseuds/GettingTraught
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Clones of the 501st have always been very fond of their Jedi, especially their Commander. A collection of one shots focussing on the relationships between Ahsoka and the clones of the 501st(and others). A look into life on the Resolute, domestic happenings, and the adventures that those fighting in a war are bound to go on. (Ahsoka and Clone centric)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Tup

**Author's Note:**

> As you may have known, I've had this story up on fanfiction.net for a while now, and as I read more stories on this site I figure it's only fair to have it posted here as well!

It was rare for the Resolute to be a quiet place, but as Ahsoka walked through the empty halls she realized this would go under that category of rare times. The 501st, minus Coric and the three men who were injured on their latest campaign, had gotten the opportunity to go planet side since they were in a Republic controlled, clone friendly system. Of course, that meant Anakin couldn’t pass up the chance, and since there had to be a commanding officer on board at all times and it would be, ‘Rude to deprive Rex of bonding with his brothers’ that left Ahsoka(the fact that she was too young to drink in most systems also may have had something to do with this, but no one would outright say that to her…..except for Fives.)

Being left behind wasn’t too bad; She’d stopped in and meant to pester Admiral Yuleranfor a while, only for him to declare it was time for him to retire. Must be an older person thing she mused with a shrug. This had sent her to the mess hall, which she decided was far less interesting without the laughter and lively conversations of the men. These things out of the way, that left her with one real option left; actually doing the work Rex and Anakin had assigned her like she was supposed to, and so she did. 

Ahsoka decided Rex and her master would be quite pleased when they returned, or at least, once they sobered up, she’d made it through the small list of tasks she had to do as a Commander, and now only had to go through and do Bunk Checks, which would be 200 times easier with all the men gone or in the med bay. She held in a grin as she made her way to the barracks, this would be done soon enough and then she could go see if Coric would finish teaching her Sabacc, since last time he tried they had to quit since Hardcase kept cheating and ruining the lesson. 

Entering into the barracks she began the very technical, very strict inspection of the bunks of each of the men. This equated to her peaking her head in, making sure there were no live fires or dead animals…or live animals and dead fires, and then marking off the man’s bunk as 10/10 ‘Neat, Organized, and Professional’ on her datapad. That way, it looked like she’d done her job, and the 501st appeared to be the most put together company in existence. 

“Hey, Commander, you looking for anything particular or are you just taking a look around?” Tup had poked his head out from where he was propped in his own bunk, looking out to grin at the young Togruta. 

She returned his grin, holding up the datapad. “I’m snooping on official business actually, Rex decided Bunk Checks were my job.”

“So, how badly are we gonna get reprimanded in the morning, because I know for a fact Rex and Dogma’s bunks are the only ones anywhere near regulation anymore. Unless of course posters and dirty sheets are the new regulation, then we’d be set.” Tup had been one of the three injured in the last battle, a blaster shot to the shoulder which had also fracture his collarbone. His arm was in a sling and he had a brace on, but he would be fine…though he was still barred from going with the rest of the company to go bar hopping or whatever else they did planet side. 

“As far as the GAR databases know, everyone in the 501st meets all regulation standards and expectations….” she grinned slightly as she made her way to a certain bunk. “Except for Fives, Fives seems to have completely failed the bunk inspection and he’ll have to do inventory for the rest of the week to make up for giving our company such a bad mark.” She came to lean against the bunk across from his. 

He laughed, throwing his hair back out of his face with a toss of his head, they must have taken it down and never put it back up since it was loose and out of it’s usual bun. “What did he do to deserve that? His bunk has to be better than Hardcase or even Jesse…”

“Aside from every inch of his space being plastered in pinups, his isn’t too bad…” her smirk grew and she looked very proud of herself. “Fives was the only one to rub it in that I don’t get to go Planet-Side, so I figure this is the best way to teach him a lesson.”

“You’re brutal, remind me not to make fun of you next time I get to go with the rest of ‘em…” he laughed again, leaning back against his stack of pillows. “I’d hate to work more inventory hours than I absolutely have to.”

She laughed at this. “Don’t worry, I don’t think I could mark you down if I wanted to. Aside from the clone messing up the blankets, it appears your bunk is ship-shape.” she looked down at her datapad, putting that information in. She continued typing for a bit. “And everyone else is too, which means when we get to Coruscant the GAR won’t insist on doing some extra thorough regulation barracks check, which we would never pass. Anyway, you should probably be resting so you can get healed and back into shape as soon as possible, so I’ll head out unless you need anything.”

Tup nodded, then blushed, turning a bright shade of pink. “Actually Commander, could you..uh, do me a favor?”

“Sure, what’d’ya need?”

He cleared his throat, avoiding her gaze. “Well uh, they took my hair down after I got all cleaned up in the med bay, and I can’t really put it up with just one arm…and it’s kind of just been in the way the whole time…do you think- I mean if it’s not too much of a hassle…” He sheepishly met her gaze. “Could you put my hair up for me, maybe?”

Ahsoka couldn’t help but laugh. “Yup, you successfully asked the only person on this entire vessel without any experience with hair, to help you put your hair up.” She sat down on the edge of his bunk. “But, if you talk me through it, I’ll give it a try.”

His face lit up in a smile, though it was still tinged with pink. “Much obliged Commander…um, it might work best if I sit on the floor and you sit on the bunk behind me..we can go from there.” He got up, settling himself on the ground in front of her. He handed her the elastic band he used to hold his hair back and then turned so he was facing away from her. “You can start by gathering all the hair towards the top of my head, you just kind of-“

“I’ve seen you do that much before,” said Ahsoka gently. “I can do that much.”

Tup sighed in relief, since he wasn’t really sure how he was going to explain gathering the hair to her anyway. He sat still, letting her run her fingers through his hair, slowly gathering and smoothing it back into one bunch. “You’ve got some cold hands..”

“Sorry, Togrutan thing” It was her turn to sound sheepish. “…if it’s too bad I can go get some gloves and start again-“   
“No-“ he interrupted her. “No, it’s not bad, it feels nice actually…I was just…noticing…” He chuckled softly as he trailed off. 

She nodded, biting her lip as she returned her focus to the task at hand, it was hard not to get distracted by the feeling of his hair. She of course, didn’t have any of her own, and aside from brushing against her Master of some of the men occasionally, she didn’t get much contact with it. Plus, none of them had anything on Tup’s long hair that had a silky quality that was just fascinating. 

“You ready to move on Commander, or are you just gonna play with it some more, not that I’m complaining.” teased Tup lightly. 

The stripes of her Lekku darkening slightly in embarrassment, Ahsoka nodded. “Sorry, I’m ready, it’s all gathered at the top, what’s next?” 

“Now you just sort of twist it all one way until it looks like a rope, sort of…then keep twisting and it’ll roll down into the bun, then you just wrap the elastic around it a few times and you’re done.” He turned slightly, shooting her a smile. “It’s alright if you don’t get it on the first time it can be a bit difficult to do at first.”

She was all concentration as she began following through on his instructions, twisting the hair- and soon it looked sort of like a rope…maybe, it could have, or it would have it it didn’t all slip out from between her fingers. “Sorry, I can get it-“

He just nodded, leaning back against her knees as she once again began combing her fingers through his hair and gathering it up, this time when she twisted it she was careful to keep a grasp on it and soon she had it in a nice twisty bun that only looked slightly juvenile compared to his usual neat work. “Now just wrap the elastic, twist it and wrap it again.”

“Alright- and done!” Ashoka clapped her hands together and grinned, standing and holding out her hand towards Tup’s free arm, he accepted and she helped pull him to his feet. “it’s a little off center, and not quite as neat as you usually have but it’ll stay out of your way!” 

The look of pride on her face was enough to make him grin. “Much obliged Commander, thank you very much.”

She laughed. “Anytime you need help just give me a call, maybe after a few times it’ll be decent enough for your brothers to not make fun of you.”

“What can they expect, I’d say it’s pretty good for being done by a kid with no hair of her own.” He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her in for a brief side hug. “Thanks again Sir, I’m gonna go see Coric, have fun with the bunks-“ 

“Who are you calling kid- I’m technically older than you!” her indignant cry was only met with laughter as Tup left her alone in the room. And she couldn’t help but laugh as well, if these were the encounters that happened with her men during the quiet times on the ship, maybe she’d have to stay back more often.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the first 19 or so chapters should be up within the next day or so since I'm just transferring them over, after that you'll have to deal with inconsistent unreliable updating as I find time to write! I hope you all enjoy and feel free (please) leave a comment and let me know what you think! I can't wait to hear from all you!!!


	2. Kix

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ashoka's having trouble sleeping, and as a Medic, Kix wouldn't be doing his job if he didn't help out.

“You know Kid, if you keep that up you’re going to wear a hole in the floor.” the sound of Kix’s voice caused the light patter of footsteps to fall silent. “Now, any particular reason you’re pacing the halls at 0300?” He leaned against the doorframe he’d been standing in, waiting for Ahsoka to speak. 

It took her a moment to do so, and he could witness her inner turmoil as she opened her mouth to speak only to let it fall closed in silence almost three times before she spoke, and when she did her words were carefully picked. “Couldn’t sleep…I just lay there and feel.. restless….” a look of guilt passed over her features. “I didn’t wake you up did I? Am I bothering the others at all-“

“I was finishing up some inventory work in the medbay, and I was on my way to the mess to get some caff when I saw you. Everyone else is probably still asleep in the barracks and none the wiser that you’re up. Don’t worry about it.” he paused for a moment, taking in the sight of the young Jedi as she stood half cloaked in the shadows, her posture slouched and her arms wrapped around herself. “Come on, I don’t feel nearly as bad getting a snack at this hour if I’m not alone.”

She nodded, joining him as they made their way to the empty mess. Unlike the dimmed hallways, the mess lights were always on for when a trooper needed a midnight snack or one of the ever working engineers or flight crew members needed an early morning pick-me-up. In the bright fluorescent light, it was easy to see the dark shadows under her eyes and the pallor in her usually bright skin. Kix decided she wasn’t sick, just exhausted. 

He grabbed an mug and poured himself a cup of caff out of one of the constantly full pots. “You want anything Kid?” Seeing her shake her head he sat down at the nearest table and Ahsoka followed suit and took a seat across from him. “So, when was the last time you slept?”

She shrugged, suddenly very interested in the table top. “I got a few minutes on the transport back from Naboo…and Skyguy swears I fell asleep during meditation yesterday but it’s hard to tell.”

Kix frowned, taking a long drink of his caff. “Naboo was almost four days ago, have you really not slept since then?” He was slowly slipping from ‘Cool friendly nice guy’ Kix into ‘I am the medic and I am in charge’ Kix and they both knew it. 

“I’ve tried- I swear!” protested Ahsoka with a scowl. “I just- I don’t know… I, I just can’t! I get restless and no matter how long I lay there or how bored I get I never fall asleep!” 

“So you decided that instead of bringing this up with Coric, or myself or even the General you would just resign yourself to a life without sleep…is that it?” he frowned into his caff. “You’re no good to us dead on your feet, and right now I don’t think even you can fake enough enthusiasm for training in your state, which means Rex and General Skywalker will notice and get on your case about it.”

“I know- but I just can’t sleep! It’s not that I don’t want to- I’m so tired I wish I would just sleep but I can’t!” tears welling in her eyes, her tone insistent and panicked..it was times like these Kix was really reminded just how young his Commander was. 

He stood up, moving towards the door. “Come on, let’s get this figured out so that I don’t have to drag you off the training field tomorrow.” She walked slightly behind him, her feet dragging and her head down in shame. He couldn’t blame her, he’d be embarrassed too, but if Ahsoka had gone this long without resting it was time for him to step in. 

“…The med bay? What…are you just gonna sedate me?” She frowned slightly at this, watching as he opened the doors and led her in. 

“Not exactly.” He gestured for her to sit on one of the beds, and went to rummage through a cabinet. “Stress is known to cause Insomnia, and there’s nothing as stressful as fighting a war. I have a few of the men on sleeping pills, even Rex takes them from time to time, it’s nothing to be ashamed of.” 

She tilted her head, watching him dig out not only a bottle of pills, but a second bottle and a syringe. “Do they work, no side effects?”

He almost laughed. “Yes, they work. And as long as you can put up with a dry mouth and some headaches, the side effects aren’t too bad.” he handed her the bottle. “Two pills, about an hour before you plan to sleep, take them with a full glass of water if you can.”

She moved to stand. “Thanks Kix, I owe you one, Goodnig-“

“Ah-ah.” he cut her off, gesturing for her to sit back down. “You’ve been running long enough that the two hours of sleep you’ll get before tomorrows business begins won’t do you any good. So, I’m officially admitting you to the sick bay until farther notice- AND I’m giving you the heavier duty stuff to really knock you out so you don’t go sneaking off before I’ve decided you’re back to normal.”

“Master’s not gonna like this-“

“Is the General a medic? Does he hold any authority over your health that I don’t? Would he rather you drag yourself to training and end up getting hurt or putting one of the other men at risk? I don’t think so, now, hold your chin up and look towards that corner of the room.” He gestured towards a corner of the ceiling, filling the syringe with the bottle he’d grabbed. “Slight pinch.” Warned Kix as he injected the sedative into the vain in her neck, just below her jaw. His tone was almost apologetic. “Fastest route to the brain.”

She nodded. “I know, besides I’ve been through worse than a shot or two before Kix, I can handle it.”

“Oh I know Kid, who do you think has patched you up after you’ve been through worse?” He smiled, setting the supplies aside. “You’re gonna start to feel drowsy…well, drowsier than you were, so you might want to lay back so you don’t fall.”

Ahsoka laughed. “I’ve been on sedatives before, they don’t act that fast or that harshly…I have a solid-“ she stopped, blinking languidly. “Minute or so…” she trailed off, eyes unfocussed as she blinked again. 

Kix moved to stand next to her, his hand on her shoulder. “So you’re the expert now, huh?” 

As this point her head was leaning on his arm, and she was slumped into him which was the only thing to keep her from sliding off the cot. “Thanks Kix..” her voice was a low mumble, barely above a whisper, with a slurred “Love you.” as a sort of afterthought. 

He smiled, laughing and eased her back onto the pillow of the cot as her eyes drooped closed and stayed that way, he gave her an affection pat on the top of her head and pulled the covers up over her limp form. “Get some rest Kid…” he grinned as he sat down in a chair and pulled out a datapad to continue his inventory work. “Love you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you've enjoyed! Kix is one of my favorites, and don't worry, you'll see him again! Please let me know what you think, I can't wait to hear from y'all!!!


	3. Dogma

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After it's all said and done, Dogma can't help but have his belief in the Jedi shaken after what happened with Krell. The aftermath of his decisions.

When he first heard her voice echoing from outside his containment cell, he thought he was hallucinating. He’d been confined for just over a week without any visitors since his sentencing, there was no reason his commander would come now- but there it was again, a tone so distinctive among a sea of clones. He couldn’t make out the words, but it sounded like she was yelling, and it was getting louder as he assumed she approached his cell. 

Dogma shifted on his cot, leaning up on one elbow to look towards the door, he was sure it was her now, and he could just begin to hear what she was saying. He was right, she was yelling. 

“-And further, your regulations are complete bantha-shit!!! I’m his commanding officer for kriff’s sake! I have every right to come see him especially now!-“ Ahsoka’s voice was cut off by the low murmur of a, surprisingly calm, trooper speaking. It was too low for Dogma to understand, but it was clear the trooper was trying to defuse the situation with the raging Togruta. 

There was a crash, a noise that sounded like something…or someone, mused Dogma, had hit the wall near his cell. “Did I ask your opinion on the matter, trooper?” Yes, defiantly very close to my cell now, maybe even on the wall just beside it he decided. Ahsoka’s voice was clear, and the small yelp that had been emitted by whatever poor soul had been on guard duty was easy to hear. “Now, open the cell, and be on your way. I’ll comm you when I’m done, and while you’re away you can tell Commander Fox where he can shove his regulations. Understood Trooper?”

The click of the keypad outside his cell moved him to sit on his cot. Dogma felt his chest tighten as his young commander came into view through the ray shield that functioned as a door. She was scowling, and had a package clutched under one arm. 

As soon as the shield was gone she stepped in, nodding to the clone outside who then hit the keypad again and returned the cell to ‘secure’. Ahsoka watched the trooper leave, and then turned to Dogma, offering a weak smile. “I got here as soon as I could… I was off world for all of the trial or I would have been there- and then it took forever for my clearance approval to go through for some reason- or I swear I would have been here sooner…” 

He only nodded, looking down at his hands instead of facing her. This reaction killed the smile she’d plastered on and she frowned. “Dogma, permission to sit?” she gestured to the chair in the corner of his cell. 

“Permission granted, Sir..” he cleared his throat. “Thank you for coming Sir, does the Jedi Council need any more information, or are these questions for a personal briefing? If so, Captain Rex should have more than enough-“

“Dogma-“ she cut him off as she sat down, her bright eyes locking onto his with steely determination. “You have permission to speak freely, and I have to insist you do so. I’m not here on official business for anyone. I’m here, because I wasn’t there when the shit hit the fan, and I’m worried about you. This isn’t your Commander speaking, this is your friend speaking. I plan to be quite open and frank with you, and I’d like you to do the same.”

A moment of silence passed between them, then finally he nodded. “Of course…..I really do appreciate this Commander Tano, I was told I wouldn’t be allowed visitors so this is, well, quite the surprise.” 

She frowned slightly at the use of her more formal title, but she decided it was as good as she would get for now. “Well, I had to pull rank more than a few times…if regs were less strict I’m sure all of the 501st would have been here by now, but even I ‘barely qualify’ for this whole visit…” she paused, her forehead crinkling ever so slightly. “Am I making you uncomfortable, me being here like this?”

He blinked in surprise, a bit taken back. “No, of course not…well, I…the situation and circumstances are uncomfortable. You aren’t the issue Sir….”

“Drop the ‘Sir’ Dogma, I don’t have any right to be your superior right now. Just ‘Ahsoka’ works…” she had set the package down on the ground and had her legs curled up under her in the chair. 

“What do you mean by that, not having any right to be my superior.. I mean?” Dogma was curious, who wouldn’t be. It wasn’t every day a commanding officer, especially a Jedi belittle their right to rank. 

“If I had been on Umbara I could have prevented all of this.” she gestured around to the cell. “I had a choice, between accompanying you all on Umbara or helping Master Plo with a humanitarian mission. Master Plo would have been fine without me, you all were not. Even if Master Skywalker were still called away, I would have been there, and I would have been in charge since I’m a part of the 501st, not just a stand in General. And- if it still went downhill like it had, as the next highest ranking officer Krell’s execution would have been my call and duty to perform, which would have kept it a strictly Jedi internal affair and you and the other men wouldn’t of had to get caught in the fall out- I should have been there and you payed for my lack of judgement…you all did.”

Dogma was trapped. On one hand, he wanted to agree with her. It wasn’t supposed to be their job to deal with rogue Jedi, and who better to handle one than another Jedi. And she was right, in that overall the casualties would have been lower if she had been there, but the fact of the matter was that she wasn’t there. Nothing was going to change that. He had been put in a situation, and he had made his choice, and he was beginning to come to terms with that. 

“There’s nothing you can do about it now..Ahsoka..” using her name felt wrong, and he bit back the urge to call her ‘Commander Tano’ again, but she’d made a request and he would honor that. “There’s no use feeling guilty about a situation in which you were only hypothetically involved in.”

“But it’s not just hypothetical-“ she cut in. “You’re my men, and you’re my responsibility and I let you down! I should have prevented all this, and I didn’t. You weren’t ‘hypothetically’ abused by a madman turned sith who forced you to kill your own, that actually happened- and if I’d been doing my job it wouldn’t have.”

Dogma sighed, running a hand through his hair, it was past regulation length now, he didn’t know if he enjoyed that or not. “No offense, but I don’t think there is anything you could have done. Either you would have been manipulated with the rest of us, or he would have found some way to get rid of you. Besides, he was a Jedi master…you’re as conditioned as me and my brothers to listen to them blindly. I’ve seen you follow the General onto some of the most suicidal missions, certainly ones no brother would agree to go on. If you were in the situation, I’d bet you just powered through and followed orders, because that’s what you’re taught to do…just like us.”

Her mouth opened to form some sort of rebut, but it never came. She slouched slightly, now staring at the floor. “…..You don’t trust me anymore, do you Dogma?” Ahsoka’s tone was that of a dejected child, sad, lost, a bit hurt. 

He wasn’t prepared for that. He’d prepared himself for her to logically talk her way past him- somehow proving him wrong, he’d been prepared for anger- for her to yell and throw him against the wall. He hadn’t been prepared for this. “I….I don’t really know…” the answer was honest, he genuinely wasn’t sure how he felt. 

“That I can both understand and respect…but you’ll like this!” she grabbed the package, unwrapping the brown paper that covered the bundle. “I told the boys I was going to get in here to talk to you, and a bunch of them had stuff they wanted me to give you- and I got it all cleared with security so you can keep it!” 

She began handing him small bundles or notes, rattling off what was from who or explaining some thing or another. 

A deck of sabacc cards from Fives, a tin of hard candies flavored like Muja Fruit from Tup and Jesse, a three page letter from Rex that she’d said was mostly ‘thank you’ and ‘I’m sorry’, varius notes from one trooper or the next all assuring him ‘he’d done the right thing ‘and that ‘he was still a part of the 501st- no matter what’ .

“Nobody talked to me for the first few days I was back, I guess they were like you are…unsure. I’m a Jedi, Krell was a Jedi.. the distrust was palpable, but then things sort of fell back to normal… I mean, not totally normal, but they talk to me again. So many of them asked me to try an bring you back…to have you cleared and then reinstated again, they really just want their brother back more than anything I think…they miss you, but differently than you all miss those who died, because you’re being kept from them but you’re still alive. It’s the glimmer of hope that you would return that makes a difference in it all…” Ahsoka sighed, shifting her legs out from under her. “I really am trying to get you back…but with the sentencing…it’s hard to convince everyone that you should be returned to us after the court ruled otherwise…”

He nodded, he understood that. “I appreciate it, you trying…as well as you bringing this stuff from them all…you didn’t have to…”

“I’m not finished.” She stood up, giving him a low bow so that he could not only see the top of her head, but he was also able to watch her back lek flop forward. “On behalf of myself, and the Jedi Council, who is too proud to do so, I offer you this most sincere and fervent apology. I’m sorry that I left you with Krell, and I’m sorry he manipulated you, and I’m sorry you were put in a position where you had to kill your brothers, and I’m sorry you’re here- and I’m sorry that I’ve lost your trust, and that the court was too dense to see that you don’t deserve to be punished- and I am so sorry for everything.”

Ahsoka straightened up, a sad sort of smile on her face. “And I’m not just saying that….I don’t lie to my men, and in my books you’re as much a member of my company as you were three weeks ago.” 

“I know that Sir…” said Dogma finally. “And I appreciate that…I really do…is there any way, do you think, that you could get me cleared for mail? I’d like to be able to talk directly to the others…”

“I swear to you, you’ll be able to send and receive mail within the next few days, and if I play my cards right you’ll be able to get holo-transmissions within the week.” there was that steely gaze of hers again, she was set and determined and this was the commander he saw in action. This was the commander who never lied to her men no matter how grim the situation, the one who led them from the front and led by example, who would stick her own neck on the line for them at any time and would never make any man do something she wouldn’t do, the one commanding officer who cared enough to ask about nightmares and would trade ration bars in an instant if a man even slightly disliked the flavor he got. She was the commander who felt more like a sister or mother at times than some cold emotionless Jedi, and this was the commander Dogma trusted. 

“Thank you. I really appreciate that…” he offered a smile, and he was reassured when he felt no tightness in his chest or even a need to force the smile. It was genuine. 

She beamed back at him. “You’re welcome. You deserve better, and I’ll be dammed if you don’t get it no my watch! I’d love to stay longer…but we ship out tomorrow and curfew’s earlier…we’re going on a campaign to the otter rim, way past where we normally are..we should be back in about a month, I’ll try an be in communication with you before then though…it all just depends..”

He nodded, he expected as much. Not even a tragedy like Umbara could keep the 501st out of the thick of things for very long. He gathered up his gifts as Ahsoka commed to let the guard know she was done. In less than a minute the shield was opened and she gave a wave and exited. 

“Wait- Commander!” she stopped, turning to look back in at him inside the newly resealed cell. He gave her the most ernest- the brightest smile he had in him. “I trust you Commander- I trust you!!!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Angry Ahsoka is one of my fav Ahsoka's that is all.


	4. Wolffe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wolffe was a Commander, not a babysitter...and yet he felt that his General couldn't quite tell the difference.

Commander Wolffe had spent a little less than three days in the company of one Ahsoka Tano, and he already felt that he owed Captain Rex several rounds at 79’s the next time both companies were back on Coruscant. 

In the field, Ahsoka was a well oiled machine of droid demolition and constant ideas to keep her men safe. He rather enjoyed watching her work, and admired her comfort in the heat of battle.   
 Being stuck on a ship was an entirely different story. She was impatient, asked too many questions, bothered and distracted the men from work or training, and she spent far more time grabbing snacks from the mess than he’d anticipated. She was a child, no more than a youngling despite the fact she’d saved he and his men’s lives a handful of time. At only a little over 14 years old, She was not only a child, but a child with an snarky streak a klick wide and that in itself was terrifying. 

“Wolffe!” speaking of the little firecracker. “Hey- have you seen Master Plo anywhere? He told me to meet him on the bridge but he wasn’t there and I was wondering if you’d seen him?” She gazed up at him expectantly, her eyes too wide, too trusting to be the same kid that had easily cut through the enemy. 

He could almost hear his General’s words in his head. “Commander, I have a very important, very quick mission to run. Let Little ‘Soka know I won’t be able to meet her. Also, I would appreciate it if you kept her busy for the day…though her intentions are good I am afraid she has a nose for trouble. If she doesn’t find it, I’m sure it will find her.”

“The General was called away on a last minute mission, he’s set to be back by the end of the day. Until then, you’ll be accompanying me as I go about my duties. The General suggested this might help you understand what is expected of you as a Commander.” He didn’t consider himself a particularly soft man, but the way her face dropped when he told her the General was gone was nearly enough to make him want to comfort the child. Nearly. “A pout is unlikely to inspire confidence in your men.” 

This only furthered her pouting, and she crossed her arms over her chest. “Fine.” 

He raised a brow, a frown falling easily onto his features. “Fine?”

“Fine, Sir?” shot back the young girl with a slight sneer.

Great. he thought to himself. I’ve ticked her off. “Your attitude is the problem, not the protocol.” 

“Fine.” She rolled her eyes. Of course she would. Eye rolling was a direct sign of disrespect, but it was one Wolffe couldn’t do anything about since his eyes were rolled so often it was joked that one of these days they would just fall out of his head. He’d found after those sort of jokes it was always amusing to pop out the cybernetic one, maybe not appropriate, but amusing. None the less, he now realized that he was now stuck dealing with a grumpy teenager, great. 

He decided his best chance was acting like he was unaware she was upset. “We got a new batch of rookies in from Kamino, and they haven’t been able to train with a Jedi yet. Let’s see how they manage.”

She perked up at this. Apparently even combat training was a place of comfort for the strange child. “I can do that.” Wolfe decided it was no easier to understand the Jedi younglings than it was the Masters. 

“I know, that would be why I said I’d bring you. Come on, the rookies get stressed when the schedule isn’t exact and the last thing I need is a panic attack because we’re thirty three seconds late.” He set off, and she bounced into step beside him, mood having made a complete 180 from the pouts and ‘fines’ of less than a minutes ago. And I thought the dealing with the Shinnies was like raising kids, this is almost too much.

“So what do you wanna do? Regular drills in squad formation with me as the point, or basic ‘this is a lightsaber- this is a jedi- they are a different species than you sometimes and that’s ok- the force is a thing and they use it without asking but it will keep you from falling to your death-‘ “

“Something like that.” muttered Wolffe. He could feel a headache coming on. Not only did he owe Rex a few drinks, The General owed him quite a few as well. 

Ahsoka let out a heavy sigh. “That was the most noncommittal answer you could have given.”

“I could have ignored you.” he snapped back, scowling in her direction. She stuck her tongue out in reply, and before he could decide if he was going to wring her neck or quit his job, they’d reached the training gym. 

They’d only been sent one squad of rookies, only 6 men, and as soon as the two commanders entered the room they scrambled to attention. “At ease men. This is Commander Tano of the 501st Legion. She usually serves under General Skywalker, but she’s going to be with us for a few days. Since General Koon is on a mission she agreed to help out with training, that way you can get used to working with a Jedi.”

“She looks like a tiny General Ti!—“ blurted one of the troopers, which caused one of the others to snicker while the other four just stood awkwardly. Wolfe tried to resist, he really did, but his eyes seemed to roll of their own accord. 

Wolffe had expected Ahsoka to get embarrassed, angered or upset- really any sort of switch to childlike offense. He was surprised, albeit pleasantly, when she was in ‘professional’ mode. “Well, Maser Ti and I are both Togrutan, and we have similar coloring so I can see how that would make sense. How are you boys gonna handle switching from dealing with us Togrutans to Master Plo?” She flashed a quick grin before moving into the lesson. 

He stood back and let her talk to the men. She was good with them, he could appreciate that. It’s just when she’s on her own time she’s a kid he decided finally. On the Republic’s time she’s a soldier, on the Jedi’s time she’s a padawon, her time is the only time she gets to just act her age…and that’s the smallest amount of time. 

Wolffe was content to lean against the wall and watch her teach and interact with the men. After a short explanation she had the squad running drills against the training droids, she would hop in and out as needed. Yelling commands, giving suggestions and throwing out praise if earned. She was a refreshing change of pace from the Clone Commander’s constant screams and same voices, but she also was unafraid to hit the rookies with the butt of her lightsaber if they got too close to the ‘Jedi Circle’ in the front. 

If I just keep her on official business all day, this would be a dream. Despite his wishes, he somehow didn’t see that working out all too well. 

He straightened up, nodding to Ahsoka. She took the hint and shut off the training droids. “Hit the showers, you’ll be joining the rest of Wolfpack for lunch in the mess and then full company training. Head out.” They scampered off, looking tired but not in some state of emotional turmoil. 

She cracked her neck, hooking her saber back to her belt as she came over to where he was standing. “They’re a good bunch, but if they keep pushing the front you’re never going to make any progress besides Master Plo trying to have personal moments with all of them to tell them how much they mean to him and how precious they are.”

The corners of his mouth tugged up. “Oh yeah?”

“If they’re close enough to hit the end of my lightsaber- then they’re within hugging range, which means Master Plo can and will hold them and teach them some life lesson.” she shrugged. “Or they’ll lose a limb, it could go either way depending on how occupied you all are.”

“We’ll make sure they’re not creeping forward, they’ll just have a vet as a first though, so they don’t have to worry about working directly behind the General unless we lose a lot more men than I’m willing to.” 

“They’ll do fine. They know their training well enough not to bug the other men, but they’re still open enough to learning to take in new ideas.” She looked on proudly as the freshly cleaned men threw up a quick solute as they passed on their way to the mess. 

“You’re pretty good with the men, but, I hope you’re better with reports because they’ll need their initial training report filled out and Captain Rex told me that General Skywalker expects you to fill out your own ‘transfer of duties’ form about your time here at the 104th Battalion, since you’re here on GAR business, not Jedi.” He watched her grin fall and the pout find its way back onto her features. 

Ahsoka sighed, slumping forward with a huff. “I hate desk work.”

“Well, it won’t be desk work, since I’m rather partial to my desk. Hope you like ‘chair beside the desk work’.” 

“I’m going to go get a snack first-“ Wolffe cut her off immediately. 

“No, you’re not. If you go now, you’re just going to get distracted and end up talking to the men instead of eating or doing your work. We’ll eat after you finish.”

She groaned, a bit over dramatically if you asked him. “But I’m hungryyyyyy!”

“Then you best get your work done quickly, Little ‘Soka.”

“Where did you hear that?” demanded Ahsoka sharply, hunger forgotten for embarrassment and a bit of anger as her headsails flushed a deeper blue. 

Wolffe rolled his eyes. He didn’t try not to, he just let it happen. “The General talks about you a lot, and anytime you come up it’s ‘Little ‘Soka this-‘ and ‘Little ‘Soka that’. Some of the other men thought he was talking about a daughter, eventually they figured out it was you and not some illegitimate child he was hiding.” the dry tone he always used hid the hint of humor he found in all this. 

Now she just looked embarrassed. “Yeah, he’s called me that ever since he first found me…I thought I’d grow out of it but apparently not.”

He snickered. “Soaking wet, I’d bet you weight less than my armor, and you have trouble making eye contact with me because you have to crane your neck up. I don’t think you’ve grown out of anything. I’m curious, on deployment can you even reach the hand grips?”

“I have work to do, thank you.” huffed the girl before she turned on her heels and stormed down the hall. 

Wolffe resisted the urge to laugh, but kept his tone even when he called after her. “My office is the other direction ‘Little Soka.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First non 501st trooper! Originally I had planned to keep all the clones within the 501, but I love literally all the clones and they are all fantastic so why not?


	5. Fives

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Who ever said Fives was a good influence?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Get it? Fives- because it's chapter 5??? 
> 
> Also warning, this one's kinda ship but only because there's not enough Fivesoka(Ahsoka/Fives) in the world, if you don't like that feel free to skip this chapter or skim it and skip any parts you think are romantic! If it's not your cup of tea I don't mind you skipping it at all! I don't do many shippy chapters, so if you're worried about that I'll both try to avoid it from here on out and also warn you like I did now!

“If Master finds out we’re doing this we are going to be in so much trouble!” Ahsoka turned, grinning at her current ‘partner in crime’ as they made their way off of the GAR compound where clones stayed while on Coruscant. 

Her grin was met with one of equal measure. “Trouble? More like we’ll be in so much pain. The General’s more of a slash first ask questions later kind of guy. If we survive the initial encounter, then we’ll probably just have to get an earful from Rex.” Fives playfully elbowed her shoulder. “But hey, you can always pull rank right?”

Ahsoka’s laugh echoed above the hum of the city. “Yeah, as if. Even I know not to pull rank on Rex when he’s in dad mode.”

Fives stopped, giving her a confused look. “Dad mode? Why have I not heard this before?-“   
She shrugged, grabbing his arm to pull him along again. “Jesse and Hardcase were talking about it, and it completely fit. He gets all protective, he’s super awkward, has a hero complex a mile wide, and he lectures almost as well as Master Obi-Wan…he’s a complete dad.”

“You’re completely right. But I’m a bit offended I wasn’t included in this conversation- why was I not told about this genius earlier?” he gave a mock frown. “Next time Jesse and Hardcase leave me out I’m telling Dad!”

“Then you’ll just be left out of the loop AND a snitch. Now, do you wanna tell me where we’re going or am I supposed to just trust you? Because last time I blindly trusted you we ended up sleeping in a tree until Coric came to airlift us out because an entire planter had flooded…” despite her jab at their past adventures, she was still grinning widely- excited to be able to get out of the Temple and to be able to hang out with her friends(that were clones) in a place that wasn’t the stuffy barracks complex. 

Fives feigned offense. “And here I though trust between a Commander and her men was a valuable bond? Proves how much I know…. maybe if you had passed me on that bunk check last month I’d tell you…”

“Please?” she grabbed onto his arm, giving it a solid tug. “Come on, just tell me! You can’t tell me we’re going somewhere Master wouldn’t approve but is still a great time and then NOT tell me the details!” 

“I don’t know, it might just be more fun to let you wonder and wait until we get there.” 

She grinned. “You said we’d need to take a taxi to get there, you’ll have to tell the driver where we’l going and I’ll know then. Now, stop delaying the inevitable and let your Best-Jedi-Friend in on the secret.”

His laugh came out as a bark that drew the attention of the people walking around them. “Ha- ‘Soka you’re my only Jedi-Friend. But since you asked so nicely I’ll tell you.” he cleared his throat, maybe just a bit too over dramatically. “We, are going to a nightclub because you are a poor deprived teenager that never gets to do anything, because the Jedi are control freaks who don’t want you to have any fun. It’s a good place, but sometimes some of the guys go there, which is why I specifically told you not to wear what you normally do… and also why I get to be in civvies for once, that way we can just duck out of the way and they won’t immediately recognize ‘oh that’s what the commander wears WAIT-‘“ 

She raised a brow marking, but didn’t look disapproving. “Am I even old enough to get into a club? Other than that, I’m completely in. I’ll be lost, but I’m in.”

He shrugged, waving a hand as if to shake off the doubts. “I say if you’re old enough to serve in the military, you’re old enough to go to a club. Your ID does just say you’re a military employee, so if they ask we’ll just say you’re some pilot or something… also, it’s a nightclub on Coruscant no one gives a bantha’s ass about…well, anything! Besides, no one on this side of the galaxy has any idea how to tell a Togruta’s age, honestly they just assume you’re all legal so they don’t feel bad getting off-“

“Ok- Ok- I get it! It’ll be fine, I don’t need to hear about people lusting over my kind, ugh…” she scrunched her face up, and then shook her head. 

He grinned, tugging her to a halt. “So I’m guessing I shouldn’t tell you about what the men say in the fresher after practice?”

She pressed her forehead against his shoulder, groaning in exasperation. “Please tell me you’re joking! They’re supposed to trust me- respect me- even have a healthy dose of fear for me at times, not- not that.” 

“There, there..” Fives patted the top of her head. “It’s none of the vets or your friends or anything, it’s just the shinnies and some of the newer guys, and they still respect you, they just…also respect that your parents did a bang up job with their genetic efforts.” 

“Oh hail a cab already, I need a drink.” 

It was his turn to quirk a brow. “And you exactly do you know what’s it’s like to need a drink, hmm? And here I thought I was liberating the naive oppressed teen…”

“I’m sheltered, not daft.” she withdrew from his arm. “Besides, with how often you and Kix say it I’m able to read situations….and Senator Amidala had a Banquet and after being sat next to Tarkin for the entire night was much more tolerable after three or four glasses of champaign.”

“Atta’ Girl!” Fives thumped her on the back just as a cabbie pulled up to the edge of the walkway they were on. “Hey Ernie, long time no see!” he ushered Ahsoka in and slid in beside her. “We’re headed over to Zooks.” 

The driver was human, although an old one. He turned to look at Fives. “Not 79’s? And you have a girl with you…you are just throwing me for one loop after the other here man.” 

The clone grinned, rubbing the back of his neck. “What can I say, I like to change things up.” 

“As long as you and the good ole GAR keep paying, I don’t mind a bit.” the driver turned back around and soon they were in the midst of the chaos that was Coruscant traffic after dark. 

Ahsoka leaned over, speaking in a hushed voice. “79’s, that’s the clone bar you guys usually go to right?”    
Fives nodded. “Yeah, I woulda taken you there, but apparently half of Torrent company is hanging there tonight, including Rex. So, that got shut down as an option. Plus I figure you spend enough time staring at the same ugly mug, you could use a change of scenery.” 

“You’re right about that…I absolutely don’t know why I hang out with you, I mean some of the others I can deal with but I swear..you’re just the ugly brother.” her cheeky grin was met with a face of complete offense. 

“I’m the ugly brother? I should just push you out of this speeder because it’s OBVIOUS your judgement is so impaired that your life isn’t worth living anymore- at this rate I’m not going to be able to let you out of my sight, because you’ll probably hook up with the most unattractive people….” 

“Fives, I’m a Jedi…we don’t really ‘hook up’” she rolled her eyes, looking out at the speeders racing around them. 

His grin returned, and he poked her cheek. “Jedi are ‘unattached’ not ‘celibate’- and if you ask me there’s nothing more unattached than hooking up with someone at a bar.”  “Sex is self-indulgent, unnecessary, and most importantly looked down upon by the Order-“

“And you’re one of the fun Jedi, yet you still pull up lectures like nobodies business.” he cringed at her guilty look. “You know I’m joking, besides if you did hook up with anyone the General would have my head.”

“Only if I hooked up with you maybe, otherwise he’d just lock me in the temple until I’m forty.” she cracked a smile, and all bitterness left the back of the speeder. 

Fives waggled his eyebrows, smirking widely. “Oh, so hooking up with me is a feasible option, huh?” 

This elicited an eye roll from Ahsoka. “Totally. If I can tolerate Tarkin when buzzed, you might just become irresistible.” 

“Watch where you’re throwing that sarcasm ‘Soka.” laughed the clone with a grin. “You might hurt somebodies feelings.”

“You’re used to it.” she shot back smugly. 

“That I am. Now, If you could be nice for thirty seconds, we’re here.” He was right of course. They pulled up in front of the dark building that was illuminated with neon lights surrounded by similar looking establishments. He tossed a few credit chips to the driver and tugged Ahsoka out of the cab. “Now, try not too look like an absolute youngling, don’t drink anything I don’t buy, and remember you’re a normal person tonight so you get to have fun and throw training and discipline to the dust.”

“Noted.” Ahsoka stayed close to Fives’ side as they entered, the two making it past the bouncer without a problem. He staked out a two person table near the bar, but a ways away from the door. 

He ordered for her, in fact the exchange between him and the waitress was so fast paced she was unsure what even happened. Soon they had a variety of drinks sitting no the table in front of them. “There’s a few more than two here..” she said with a questioning look. 

“Well, we have to figure out what you like, and this way we’re only gonna have to bother the staff every hour for a new round not every ten minutes. I’m ARC, we think ahead.” 

She grinned. “I’m sure they planned for you to put your ARC training to use when sneaking out with your commanding officer to a nightclub. It’s probably an entire chapter in the manual.”

Fives slid one of the glasses over to her, it was a bright blue mixed drink looking thing. “Shut up and take this so you’ll loosen up already. I came out to have a good time, not constantly be on my defense against your verbal attacks.” 

Ahsoka stuck her tongue out at him, and then took a hesitant sip of her drink. She titled her head to the side, blinking down at the drink. 

Fives was snickering into his beer, watching her reactions. “So?” he finally prompted. 

“It’s good!” She finally said with a grin. “You have good taste, apparently.”

He continued to laugh. “Me? I can’t stand the stuff, I told the waitress to get whatever she thought you would like. That stuff tastes like someone mixed drain cleaner with hard candy.” 

“And it’s delightful. So, I’ll drink this and you can drink your manly whatever it is you drink and we can both be happy.” 

“I’ve never agreed with you more.” 

The pair chatter over their drinks, switching effortlessly from sarcastic banter, to gossip, to reminiscing about past missions or shenanigans they’d partaken in. Fives was on his third drink and she was about halfway through her second when he broke the pattern. “We should go dance!”

Ahsoka shook her head and laughed. “Fives I’ve never-“ 

“Exactly!” he interrupted. “So you should do it now, come on!” he stood abruptly, and tugged her up after him. “No time like the present ‘Soka!~” 

He caught her be the wrist and half led, half drug her to the dance floor. She was still laughing, half heartedly protesting. “I’m serious- I don’t even know how to dance!” 

He grinned, pulling her into the crowd of people already ‘dancing’ to the music. “It’s easy, just do what everyone else is doing which is basically just swaying to the beat and moving your hips a bit.” 

“Fives- “ she would have sounded disapproving if it hadn’t been for her laughter. She glanced around at the other people, none of which were giving the Clone and the Togruta the time of day. 

“You are making this way more difficult than it needs to be- here.” He rested his hands on her hips and began moving her along with the music, this only brought forth another bout of laughter. “See, just listen to the music and relax! Look over there-“ he nodded towards a couple who were grinding along to the music in the midst of the rest of the crowd. “Like that, but less like you want to jump me.” 

“You’re such an idiot-“ again, her laughter softened the blow of the insult. Eventually she fell into the beat of the music, feeling(and looking) far less awkward than before. Dancing along with Fives and the rest of the crowd of people she was relaxing, and maybe starting to enjoy herself. “Oh get that look off your face!” 

Fives’ smirk remained in place. “No, you’re enjoying yourself! I knew it- Now admit it! You like dancing!”

Ahsoka rolled her eyes, getting pushed into his chest as another group of people bumped into her. “the music’s so loud it hurts- there are way too many people- and“

“And you wouldn’t have it any other way because you’re enjoying yourself! See- you’re smiling, that’s an admittance!” he grinned in triumph, almost knocking a passing patron over as he punched the air. 

She laughed, burying her face into his chest. “I can’t believe I actually hang out with you!” 

“It’s because I’m irresistible, now less leaning more dancing!” 

She looked up, smirking at him. “But why would I do that, when you can just dance for the both of us?~”

He matched her smirk. “Because part of the criteria was not looking like you wanted to jump me, remember?” 

She noticed what he meant, she was pressed against his chest, one hand resting on his shoulder and he had his hands on her waist, and with the general grinding motion of dancing to the fast music…they looked questionable. Her headtails flushed dark in color, and she buried her face in his shirt again. “You’re impossible-“ 

He only laughed. “Oh go have another drink and come back when you feel like having fun.” 

She stuck her tongue out at him and wove her way through the mass of people back to their table. Ashoka sipped on her unfinished drink, watching Fives get called over to the bar by a few clones from another company, though they were obviously familiar with him. She leaned back in her seat, tapping her foot along to the overwhelming sound of the music. 

A tap on her shoulder jerked her out of her daze, she glanced up into the blinding smile of a man about her age, probably a little older. The bright red skin and hair could only make him a Zeltron. “It’s a crime for someone so pretty to sit alone, come dance with me? I can buy you a drink first.” 

Ahsoka was immediately blushing intensely. “No, that’s fine I’m really-“

“I insist!” The Zeltron tugged her to her feet. “One dance won’t do you any harm doll face, how about it?”

“She declined, so I’d say lay off lover boy.” Fives was standing just behind the Zeltron, looking none to pleased. Arms crossed across his chest, a scowl on his face, he made an intimidating sight. 

The Zeltron let go of her arm. “I-If I’d known you were here with someone, I would have-“

“Yeah yeah-“ cut in Fives again. “Beat it already before I give you something to stutter about.” He had ran off into the crowd before Fives even finishes speaking. The clone sat down, rolling his eyes and taking a long gulp from his drink. 

Ahsoka sat as well, leaning over the table slightly with a questioning gaze. “You ok Fives? You seem a little….tense…”

He shrugged. “I didn’t expect you to actually follow through on my jokes of hooking up.” 

“I wasn’t going to!” She sat back in her chair, now frowning as well. “He was being friendly, and he was attractive but I wasn’t going to sleep with him. Talk a little, maybe dance sure, but I’m not some common tramp who needs to have people declined for me.” she sighed. “Come on, forget it. You wanted to dance let’s go dance!” she hopped to her feet, hand resting on her hip as she waited for him to throw back the rest of his drink. 

“Now you’re speaking my language! Come on-“ as if completely forgotten that he had been upset less than a second ago he wrapped an arm around her waist and swept her back into the mass of people dancing. 

The rest of the night was spent laughing, dancing and drinking, the pair knocked out of their schedule when Fives’ com beeped. “Yeah, Fives, what’s up?” He pressed a finger to his lips, and Ahskoa gestured around them as if to say ‘we’re in a club where the music is loud enough to rattle my bones and you’re telling me not to talk’.

“Uh yeah, FIves, it’s Tup..The General and Rex are looking for you and Commander Tano, apparently the guys at 79’s talked to a cabbie who had just seen you, I don’t know..but they’re sort of freaking out so I’d try to sneak back pretty soon if I were you..” 

“Would you say Rex is…in dad mode?” asked Fives, which sent both himself and Ahsoka into fits of laughter. 

“Is that the Commander? Where are you two- Fives, I’m serious they’re pissed and you should get back. Tup out.” Fives shrugged, tossing back his unfinished drink. 

“I guess that means we have to head out?” asked Ahsoka with a pout. 

“Yeah guess so, let’s go….” the two headed out of the club. “So, did you have fun? Or was that a complete and utter waste of your time?” 

“It was great!” she was leaning heavily against him, obviously having lost a bit of coordination over the nights festivities. Not that he was that much better, he was swaying on his feet as well. “I had a really good time, even having you there.” 

He laughed, moving to lean against the wall for the sake of not falling over. “So does this mean I get to sneak you out of the temple more often now?” She was leaning against him, and he could feel her laugh against his chest. 

“Fives, you can sneak me out anytime.” she gazed up at him smirk in place. “Someone’s got to stop me from running off the Zeltrons…” 

He grinned, resting his hand on her lower back. “It’s a tough job, but someone’s got to do it.” he leaned in, his other hand running along her cheek. “Could you be persuaded to run off with clone?” 

Her fists gripped the fabric of his shirt, and she leaned up on her toes. “Wanna find out?” Her lips fairly brushed against his when two resounding (and familiar yells) sent them stumbling apart. 

“AHSOKA TANO-“

“TROOPER!” 

Both in question froze as Rex and Anakin stared at them incredulously. Ahsoka bit her lip, her headsails the darkest shade of blue anyone had ever seen them, and Fives was trying to stand at attention- and also avoid eye contact with either of his superiors. 

“What the absolute hell do you two think you’re doing?” demanded Anakin as he stomped over to stand between the pair. “Off base and the temple grounds without permission- taking Ahsoka to a club- you’ve obviously both been drinking and now whatever this is- We’re shipping out tomorrow what do you think you’re doing?” 

Rex just shook his head as Anakin grabbed both of their shoulders and dragged them along the street. 

“Master It’s really not that ba-“

Fives cut her off. “Is the General in dad mode-“ despite the situation, this sent the pair into fits of laughter and made Anakin growl in frustration. 

“Obi-Wan is waiting in the speeder- and Ahsoka you can explain to your grand-master exactly how I walked in on you and fives drunk and about to jump each other while Rex and I take Fives back to base to explain to his brothers the dangers of public intoxication. “ Anakin Scowled at the pair. 

“Oh please- we were not about to jump each other-“ protested Ahsoka weakly, “We barely kissed- let alone started taking clothes off-“

“WELL YOU CAN EXPLAIN THAT TO YOUR GRANDMASTER YOUNG LADY.” 

Fives grinned at Ahsoka. “Same time next week ‘Soka?” She laughed and Anakin just shove ehr in front of him and there Fives back to Rex. Fives’ grin only grew, and he called out to her as she was dragged towards the waiting Obi-Wan who looked very very disappointed. “THE GENERAL HAS A DAD MODE TOO-“

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fivesoka is a guilty pleasure of mine and I feel no shame!


	6. Echo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Who better to follow Fives but his Arc brother Echo!

Echo peaked his eyes open, sitting up slightly to look at the door. There had been the distinctive ‘pitter-pat’ of small feet, then noise that sounded like boots sliding, then a soft ‘thud’. The doors slid open and Ahsoka stood grinning in the doorway. “Coric told me you woke up!” she trotted inside, grabbing one of the rolling chairs as she passed. She sat down next to his cot, a wide grin overwhelming her face. “So, how’s my favorite ARC Trooper doing?” 

He cracked a small smile. “I don’t know you’ll have to ask Fives yourself, Sir.” 

She rolled her eyes. “I see they hit you hard enough to loosen up that sense of humor then? Maybe you should get head wounds more often-“ she stopped, resisting the urge to laugh at his horrified face. “I’m kidding! Just kidding! You are now under strict orders to avoid head wounds because I want you back in drills as soon as possible- you wouldn’t believe the mess they’ve been with Hardcase trying to fill your spot- he and Fives together? Force, it makes me want to get hit by the bots!” 

“Orders received Sir, I will..get healing as soon as possible and then I’ll try an not end up here again.” He smiled more assuredly now. 

“It really shouldn’t be that hard anyway…I mean, you guys have helmets for Kriff’s sake. Then again getting thrown off a ledge isn’t really your fault, so I can’t be mad. Now, how are you feeling? And I expect full honesty and openness, even the slightest discomfort or irritation and you tell me.”

“Coric said I got knocked pretty hard, so right now everything sort of..hurts. Landed a pretty good concussion so that’s why the lights are dimmed, I’m not gonna be able to read without getting a splitting headache, and I’ve vomited several times since waking up…again the concussion. He put me on some stuff for the pain, and a fluid and nutrient drip since I’ll probably be to nauseous to eat for a while.” he gestured to the tubes in his arms. “And I’ve got some pretty good bruising on my back and shoulders but nothing too bad, that’s all.” 

She frowned. “I asked how you were feeling, Echo I already read Coric’s report. Now, how do you feel?”

Echo sighed, leaning back into the pillow. “Head hurts a lot, my back could use some ice, and I feel like what you expect after falling off a mountain. All in all, I’ve been better…plus, I’ve been awake less than an hour and I’m already starting to get a bit bored….not to complain Commander, but-“

“I asked, it’s more than alright.” she smiled, less obnoxiously than the grin that had led her in. “I’ll be right back, ok? You just relax, close your eyes, rest for a bit.”

Before he could respond she was up and out of her chair, sprinting through the doors of the medical wing. In less than a minute she returned with an armful off what looked to be..pillows? and a datapad. “Ice packs slid inside a pillow gives support for your back and a protective layer because of the pillowcase…something they told me at the Temple once that…I never actually use…but you can! Do you need help sitting up?” 

He shook his head and moved to sit up, but only barely lifted his shoulders up off the bed when he grunted in pain and slipped back down. “Actually, if it’s not too much trouble Sir.. could you?” 

She nodded, wrapping an arm around his shoulders to slowly ease him into an upright position. She put his hand on her shoulder with a look that conveyed. ‘hold on, no complaining’ She positioned the ice-pillows along where he would be laying. “Do you want to lay all the way back down, or do you want to be propped up?”

“Propped up, if you would Sir.” Echo sighed, hissing slightly in pain as the cot shifted below up and the head rose slightly. She stacked the regular pillows up behind him and then eased him back down. 

“How’s that? Any better or did I just make it weird and bumpy?” Ashoka took a step back, watching him expectantly. 

“No, it’s nice. You should suggest this to Coric and Kix, they’d get a kick out of it..” 

She grinned sheepishly. “They might, but if I keep taking all the pillows from every officer’s bunk we may have an issue?” 

He frowned. “You really didn’t have to-“

“It’s fine! I’m obviously not using mine now, Skyguy barely sleeps, and Rex has been complaining about the kink in his neck so long that sleeping without a pillow will do him good! Besides, you need them more- so you get them. Now, slide over a little bit so I can sit.” She helped him slide to the side of the cot, though he was still taking up most of the small space. Ashoka perched on the small open space along the edge, one leg tucked up under her, the other hanging off, her shoulder leaning against his stack of pillows.

She pulled out the data pad and scrolled through the files, looking for something. “At lunch the other day, you said you were what…in the middle of ‘The Third Edition Guide to Warfare: Jungle Combat’ So, if you can tell me where you stopped I can read it to you so that you don’t fall behind while you can’t read!” 

He turned slightly to look at her, mouth hanging slightly open. “Uh…that’s really not necessary Commander…you don’t have to..” 

“I know I don’t have to. But I want to. Do you want me to, or do you want me to let you get some rest?” she offered him a gentle smile, waiting for him to decide. 

He sighed, closing his eyes and trying to ignore the fact that he could feel his face heating up. “I would appreciate it if you read to me, please…” 

“Alright!” her face lit up and she turned back to the datapad. “Now, where were you?” 

“If you could start on chapter six, I’d appreciate it. I was already halfway through, but Fives was talking for most of it so I couldn’t really pay attention to what I was reading…” 

“Chapter Six, the difference of fighting droids and fighting nature.” Ahsoka cleared her throat and continued reading, the light green glow of the hollowed illuminating her features in the dimly lit room. “Defending oneself from wildlife that one could encounter on jungle planets is a far cry from shooting droids. Oftentimes, large creatures will take multiple blaster shots to the head or chest to be killed, and even then many can power through…” 

Aside from the beep of the monitor Echo was hooked to, and the low hum of machinery, Ahsoka’s voice was the only sound. Years of both taking and helping to teach lessons at the temples had made her a competent orator and she spoke softly but clearly as she dictated the rules of Jungle combat as decided by one ‘Ex-Admiral Cline Stumpklew’, whoever that was. 

By Chapter 9, Coric had walked in, chuckled softly to himself but otherwise checked on Echo in silence. He grinned at the icepacks, giving Ahsoka a knowing look that she didn’t even notice. He shook his head at the pair, upped Echo’s painkillers and left as quietly as he’d entered. 

In the middle of Chapter 15 Rex stopped in, dropping off two trays of food. Echo shook his head, and the Captain left the one sitting in the chair Ahsoka had dragged over, gave the pair a smile when he knew both were unaware and left. 

Ahsoka picked at the food as she read, pausing for a quick bite or drink of water between sections and paragraphs. Somewhere between chapters 17 and 19 Kix entered and sat back in his office, filling out work on a datapad. 

Ahsoka was halfway through the last chapter, Chapter 27 when Echo’s head slumped against her upper arm. She paused for a moment, then continued reading. She had to stop more frequently now, giving way for a yawn here or there or to snap her eyes open after they fluttered closed of their own accord. 

She gave a wide yawn, blinking to stay awake. “In conclusion, shooting at Jungle Rancors is the worst idea a trooper can have- and” another yawn. “And honestly, just stick to droids..they’re easier and less, less, less hassle…” She clicked off the data pad, leaning her head back against the pillows and soon both she and Echo were snoring lightly, datapad cradled between them. 

Kix looked up from his work, snickering under his breath. He grabbed an extra blanket and spread it over the pair with a knowing grin. As he left the med bay, he fully dimmed the lights and shut the door, he bumped into Anakin who was about to enter. He shook his head, holding a finger to his lips. “Shh, the kids are sleeping General. Wouldn’t wanna wake them up, they’ve been studying real hard.” 

Anakin smiled, laughing softly. “So Ahsoka actually read to him? She hates manuals and that sort of things.” 

The medic grinned. “Made it all the way to the end before she conked out. I wouldn’t be surprised if she actually learned something.” 

“I would, do you honestly think Snips pays attention to what’s coming out of her mouth?” Anakin grinned and the pair laughed, heading their separate ways along the ship. 

Anakin would return later that night to demand his pillows back, but felt too bad after he barged in and Ahsoka blinked tiredly at him with her wide blue eyes that he just walked out, quietly swearing in Huttesse and went to steal a pillow from whatever poor trooper had the bed closest to the door in the barracks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the weird gap in posting, I intended to post at least three or four more chapters last night but the Rebels season finale messed me up and I needed time to sit and cry to myself!! Anway, this one is one of the cutest ones in my opinion and I hold it very near and dear to my heart! Hope you all enjoy and feel free to comment and let me know what you think!!!!


	7. Rex

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rex and Ahsoka have a real talent for trouble

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally got around to Rex! I wanted to save him for a little ways in because you know, gotta share the clone love!

“Rex- the Separatists blew the damn. I need you to get all forces out of the riverbed, I repeat ALL TROOPS NEED TO BE OUT OF THE RIVERBED- REX DO YOU COPY??!?”

Rex froze, frozen in horror as he stared at his com. “General…Commander Tano is the only one down there, I told her that she could do the sweep on her own- There’s no com signal down there-“

“For Kriff’s sake, GO GET HER. I’ll join your men in a minute. Skywalker out.”

Rex was sprinting in the direction of the river before Anakin had finished signing off. His men looked at him like he was crazy, but knew well enough to let him go. He shut off his internal coms, not wanting to hear the questions his brothers were shooting at him, not wanting to listen to the chatter. He could hear the sound of the water crashing down the dried up bed, destroying everything in it’s wake. 

He made it to her last known coordinates, only to find the water had already reached there. It was rushing past, completely filling the riverbed and the bank for about 10 feet. He swore, running along the river, looking for a hint of orange or blue and white stripes in the dark brown of the murky water. 

His breath hitched and he could feel the blood pounding in his head. She was taken by the current already. Rex switched his scanners to look for organic matter and heat and swept his gaze over the river. He checked the banks first, looking several kliks out to see if she’d gotten out and was walking along, but there was nothing. He began scanning the water, his heart racing and his hands shaking as all scans were reading negative. 

“Come on Little ‘Un, where are you? You’re better than this- you know protocol…” then again, Rex knew all to well that knowing protocol was different than being able to act on it in a crisis situation. It was easy enough to say ‘feet downstream’ ‘keep your head above water’ ‘don’t swim against the current, angle yourself towards the bank’. it was all so simple in theory, but when you were suddenly swept away in a rush of water that was too dark to see in and your senses were overwhelmed it was easy enough to panic and not even remember you took a two hour seminar on flood and flash flood survival. It was easy to not remember how to find up, in that situation. 

He ran along the edge of the water, taking care not to get swept up in it himself, the river began taking twists and turns, snaking around rocky outcrops. Finally, his scanner beeped with confirmation of organic matter giving off heat. He followed the red dot as it appeared on his screens, pushing himself to get there faster. As he approached he made out a muddy figure being pressed against a rock that jutted out of the rapids. His systems identified it as Ahsoka, but if he didn’t have that he would have never been able to tell. She was completely covered in mud, and the water was swirling around her and, occasionally swelling up to cover her completely, other times leaving her almost fully exposed to the air. 

He ran full speed to the bank closest to where she was. There was a group of rocks that stood out from the water that led to where she’d been thrown. It would be dangerous, it would be stupid, but it was the only way to get out to her. He dug his anchor for the repelling system into the dirt, wrapping it around a tree a few times before he began carefully, making his way out onto the rocks. 

“Little‘Un?” No response. 

“Commander?” Again, just the sound of the swirling rapids and his heart that thumped in his ears. 

“AHSOKA-“ No response again. She was either unable to hear him, unconcious, or….or….he didn’t want to think about that. He couldn’t think about that. Not right now. 

Slowly, he died along the slick rocks, thanking any god that would listen for the traction on his boots, he was in a low crouch and moving was slow, but it was safe. Ashoka didn’t need him plastered on the rock next to her, she needed him alive, functioning, and calm. 

Only a few more feet, he could now make out the shape of her montreal against the mud. Her head was mostly out of the water at least. That was a good sign, hopefully. 

Finally he made it to the rock she was pressed against. Leaning down, he tried to be as gently as he could as he grabbed her prone form and pulled her out of the water. He held her close to his chest, moving carefully but swiftly as he made his way back to the shore. 

It had all gone so well, but the next moments flashed by, going by in such quick succession that Rex had a hard time comprehending it. The water swelled over his feet, then over the top of his boots and he was thrown off the rock into the swirling muck of the river. His cable snapped(A riffing doorstep cable, snapped like it was yesterday’s moldy twine- whoever did the equipment check was going to get an earful if he ever got out of this watery hell) and he could only clutch Ahsoka to his chest as they were carried down the river. He struggled to keep both of their heads above the water, and his armor weighed him down. 

Angle yourself towards the shore. Angle yourself towards the shore. Angle yourself towards the shore. Angle yourself towards the shore. Angle yourself towards the shore. Angle yourself towards the shore. Angle yourself towards the shore. Angle yourself towards the shore. 

Again, it was easy enough to think that, but putting it in action was a different story all together. He grunted as he was slammed against rocks, and he could only imagine how Ahsoka felt, he had his armor, she didn’t. 

Finally he got a hold of the situation, and though they were still moving swiftly downstream, they were gradually moving towards the bank. He gave Ahsoka a finally push and was relieved when her form got caught on the mud of the shore, a few moments later he was also on land, laying on his back and breathing heavily. 

He removed his helmet, rolling it to the side with a huff. He slowly looked over at Ahsoka, who was crumpled in a heap of mud and orange, but at least she wasn’t getting tossed around like some drowned rag doll by the river anymore. 

He Got to his feet, cringing as the aches of his ‘adventure’ revealed themself to him. He staggered over to where she was, and picked her up. He moved a good ways away from the dangers of his river, kicking his helmet along with them. He laid her down under a tree and began checking for vitals. 

He froze. Her chest wasn’t moving, she wasn’t breathing. He fumbled with his gloves, throwing one off to the side as he pushed earnestly along her neck, searching for a pulse. There was none. 

Rex was at a loss. If he cleared her lungs, it wouldn’t do any good if she wasn’t getting any blood moving- but if he got her blood moving and she couldn’t take in any oxygen then that wouldn’t do any good either- what was the protocol- there was no riffing protocol for this situation. 

He kneeled next to her, Heart first. It probably just stopped a few seconds ago, it’ll be alright- He leaned forward, pressing his hands over her breastbone. He began pushing down in swift motions, swearing under his breath when he heard one ‘crack’ then another. ‘If you’re not breaking any ribs you’re not doing it right!’ came an echo of Kix’s voice in his head. ‘Especially on a youngling, the commander for example, a guy our size is going to break a lot of bones if she’s out, but you want her alive. Broken ribs I can fix, dead Togruta…not so much.’ 

He paused, checking her pulse again. Nothing. What did you do to restart hearts- electricity! You shock the heart it starts working- 

He clambered to his feet, hands moving along his belt to the electroshock disks used to short out droids. If he put it on it’s lowest level it could shock her system and restart the heart! Or fry her nerve endings and make sure she stays dead. came a voice he tried all too hard to repress at times like these. 

Putting it on the lowest setting he cut away the top of Ahsoka’s shirt, he placed the disk over her heart, took a step back and activated it. Her body convulsed with the electricity and as it ended he again reached for her pulse. Nothing. 

“Kriff it all!!!” he alternated between reputations of what equated to him beating on her upper chest and swearing and shocking her. 

He was about to give up. Tears were streaming down his cheeks but he barely noticed. He growled, reaching in to check the pulse a final time, checking the time as well to have an accurate time of death. He froze. It was soft, and it wasn’t regular, but there was the tell tale ‘thump’ of blood being pumped through her carotid artery into her brain. 

He sat back on his heels, sighing in relief when another thought hit him. ‘She’s still not breathing-‘ her heart’s beating but she’s not breathing- WHY ISN’T SHE BREATHING’ oh for kriff’s sake did the universe just hate them today or something?’

Assisted Breathing- he realized abruptly. “I was so focused on her heart I didn’t even…” Quickly he returned to what he was doing, this time pressing a little lower on her chest since he was essentially trying to push the water out of her lungs. He had seen some water come out of her mouth and nose earleir, but this was coming out in bursts. He leaned up, pinching her nose closed with one hand. Leaning in he pressed his mouth over hers, forcing air from his lungs into hers. Once, Twice, a hand shot up and grabbed his wrist, and he shot backwards.

Ahsoka’s eyes flew open, and she coughed violently, the last of the water being sputtered out of her lungs in the form of the most painful hacking Rex had ever bore witness to. She clutched at her chest, moaning in pain. 

Rex lifted her head into his lap, and took her hand in his own, her grip was weak but the way she was staring at him it looked like a lifeline. The coughing died down into gasps and a wheezing sound that no being should make. She clutched at his hand, eyes wide and boring into his. 

“Commander?” No response. Kriff it all- “Ahsoka, can you hear me?” She gave a fervent nod, now only gasping for breath. Wait- not gasping, this wasn’t just her being out of breath, she had started herself hyperventilating. “You’re alright Little‘Un, come on.” He pulled her into a sitting position, holding her up by her shoulders. “Slow down, you’re alright. Slow down- that’s it. Breathe out slowly- there you go, in…and out. In…and out…there you go, you’re alright.” 

He rubbed her back lightly, and she leaned against him. “H-Hurts..” she said finally, her voice shaky and quieter than he was used to. 

“Yeah, that would make sense. You were dead for about three minutes I’d guess…” He gave her a smile, hoping to calm her. To his relief, she returned the smile (a little smaller than usual, a little sad for his liking, but it was a smile none the less) 

“T-that’s the second..” she stopped taking a minute to catch her breath again. He noticed she was shivering then. “Second t-time this m-m…m-month..” she started laughing, but it turned into coughing again. 

“Right, your Jedi adventure….Well, I’m sure you’re one of the few people who not only bests death once, but twice….that has to be an accomplishment.” He laughed lightly, glad to see her functioning, talking, and attempting to joke. “I’m gonna lay you back down while I contact General Skywalker for an evac, is that alright?” She nodded and so he eased her back onto the ground. 

He grabbed his helmet, slipping it back on he reactivated his internal com system. “General, General I have Commander Tano, we’re both…alive, conscious even. But we need immediate medical attention and an lift ASAP, I’m sending you our coordinates now. Rex out.” He got a confirmation beep after he sent their location, and he once again removed his helmet, finding the breathing filters had gotten jammed up with sludge and mud in the river. 

He sat next to Ahsoka. “Do you want to sit up now?” 

She shook her head. “No…” it was a mumble now, accompanied by a wince. “Hurts.” 

He sighed. “Unfortunately it’s going to Little‘Un, you got banged up pretty good by the river, and to get you..uh..back around well, you probably have some electrical damage, and a few broken ribs. (He’d counted 8 cracks in all, he flinched as they happened but it was better to hurt her like this than let her die—) 

“ ‘Mm Tired…” she mumbled. Her face scrunched up in pain. He almost swore, along her forehead there was a deep gash, he hadn’t noticed with the mud and the chaos of before..headwounds were nasty. 

“No can do, head wound means no sleep. Wait until Kix or Coric gets here to check you out, there’ll be painkillers and then you can sleep as soon as they clear you. Alright?” Rex glanced up, the sound of a ship and the rush of air surrounding him as a familiar ship landed a ways away. The familiar shape of the two medics and Anakin came running towards them. “Time to go Little’Un, hold on.”   
 Rex carefully scooped her up into his arms, wincing slightly at the whimper followed by a moan that escaped her gritted teeth. He cradled her to his chest and began walking to meet the ‘rescue team’. 

The next moments flashed by almost as quickly as when the river had swept them away. Ashoka was taken from his arms, and Coric was ushering him to the ship. As soon as he was sat down, his armor was removed and before he could protest Coric had a sedative administered with trained speed. 

Rex woke up in the medical bay of the resolute, vision blurry and body aching, but not as bad as he’d been in the past. He leaned up on his haunches, glancing around for any sign of his commander. 

“Looking for the Kid?” Kid stood next to his bed, looking over his charts. 

“Yeah, can I see her, is she alright?” Rex sat all the way up, ignoring the protest his body gave. 

The medic rolled his eyes. “Not as though any of us could stop you if we wanted. Come on.” He offered an arm which Rex gratefully took. Kid grabbed the IV stand and led him back to the area where the bacta tanks were kept. 

Ahsoka was suspended in the blue liquid, and Rex had to resist the urge to wince as he saw her. She was covered in bruises so dark they showed black against her skin, she had lacerations and cuts all over her body, her head showing an especially nasty gash. Her chest was littered with the telltale signs of an electrical burn and the number of tubes and lines connecting to her was enough to make him gag. 

He placed his hand against the glass, watching her intently. “She’s gonna be alright?” 

Kix nodded, “She’ll be in the batch till we get to Coruscant, then it’s straight to the Jedi Temple Healers…she wasn’t..isn’t in good shape. But she’ll live, and she’ll bounce back. Like she always does.” He gave Rex a knowing look. “Should I set a cot up in here for you?”

Rex nodded. “Yeah…yeah that’d be good.” he paused, turning towards the medic. “She’s not awake right? She’s out, on some heavy sedatives or something, right?”

“Yeah, of course. Why?” Kid was giving him a weary look, and his question was accentuated by his raised brow. 

Rex shrugged, sighing. “I get the feeling she’s not going to like being submerged in anything anymore. Not bacta, certainly not water….I don’t think it’ll sit well.” 

Kix patted his shoulder. “She’s a tough kid, she’ll bounce back.”

Rex nodded, turning back to look at her. “She always does.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Leave a comment and let me know what you thought!!!!


	8. Fox

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> My take on Ahsoka's arrest during her final arc of season 5.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Angst and sadness ahead, this is not a 'cute' chapter, sorry guys!
> 
> Also italics are Fox's internal thoughts and conflicts, hopefully it's clear enough!!

"Can't say I blame you, Commander Tano, but all the same, you're under arrest.”

"I—n-no. I did not do this.” Her eyes were wide, her voice shaking. She looked panic stricken, not like someone caught in the act. This didn’t feel right. Something was wrong. He shook it off, feelings were easy to be swayed, especially by a Jedi (or so the Chancellor and Tarkin often preached). 

He grabbed her wrists, twisting her arms behind her back. “Do yourself a favor and come quietly, don’t make this difficult.” She hadn’t. She was docile, surprisingly so. Fox was expecting the die-hard spitfire that was shown in the holovids, chasing after her master and destroying the enemy with a smile that had charmed much of the Republic. He could hear her whimper when another trooper snatched her lightsabers from her belt.

It hadn’t taken long to drag her to a cell, she was silent, her eyes darting around to look at him, the other troopers, the cells, no one spoke and the silence was painful. She was quickly fitted with cuffs and a force suppressing collar. 

With a shove she stumbled into her cell, and the barrier was shut. She sat crumpled on the floor, staring up at him with wide eyes. She looked so young it made him want to flinch, she had no right to look like a child after she killed someone and possibly got involved in a terrorist plot. “I didn’t do it- I swear- you have to believe me! Please!—“ Ahsoka’s voice cracked and he decided it was time for him to leave. 

Without a second glance back he walked away from the cell, trying desperately to ignore her cries of innocence or pleas for any kind of help to figure out what was going on. He wasn’t swayed. He’d lost enough brothers to one rogue Jedi, he wasn’t going to let this one have the chance to hurt any more. The fact that she was a direct threat to the Republic was also his concern. No matter how his gut twisted, she would be treated like any other criminal. 

Later that night, Tarkin stopped him in the corridor. “I assume Tano has been contained?” 

“Yes Sir, she came..surprisingly quietly. We have her in holding cell 12-549.” Fox watched the admiral carefully, wishing the officer would get remove his hand from his shoulder. 

“A surprise indeed, in my experience she is ruthless and quick to kill.” the smug smirk on the admirals face sent a shudder down the clone’s spine. “Commander, the Jedi have already spoken with her, but the GAR needs an interrogation, there is no man more suited for the job and I trust you can perform this with your normal efficiency and effectiveness.” 

_Don’t make me go back there. I can’t interrogate children. She’s only a child- we don’t interrogate children. This isn’t right- something’s not right. Don’t make me go back in that cell-_  
“Commander?!” the sharp call of rank drew Fox out of his mildly panicked thoughts. “I don’t have to remind you that as an enemy of the state, you are not to hold back. She is to be treated as a murderer, terrorist and traitor to the Republic. Guilty until proven otherwise Commander, remember that. I also will inform you that the information she may have is vital to the Republic and should be extracted by any means necessary.” 

Fox nodded. “Of course Sir, I’ll be on my way.” He turned to leave but he was once again cut off.

“Commander. You need to remember Tano not the righteous moral character she’s portrayed as by the media. No one wo has fought in a war for nearly three years can be as inspiring as the people want to see her. She’s deeply disturbed, and I have witnessed her take life without a second thought. She’s numb to it, death that is. Keep that in mind.” 

He could only nod, before continuing back to the containment wing. _If she’s numb to death why did she panic in Turmond's cell? If she’s deeply disturbed why is she still allowed on the front lines? why did they put a child on the front lines? Who let this child lead men- why are their lives on her shoulders? He shook those thoughts away. As bad of a feeling he got from Tarkin, the man was right. She was here a criminal and should be treated as such. The republic needed him on his toes, not being swayed by the wide eyes of someone who made a living fighting and killing._

As he entered the cell, her head shot up. They’d brought in a table, and a chair sat on either side. She was in one, her shoulder slumped forward, eyes still too wide too young too innocent too hopeful too trusting for him to look into directly. Fox settled himself in the chair, scotting it back away from the table. 

“Name, Age and Occupation.” his tone was cold, and she flinched. 

She blinked at him, brows furrowing slightly. “What- I already talked to-“

“Name, Age, and Occupation.” he was more forceful this time and she seemed to slouch in realization. 

“Ahsoka Tano, 17 years old, former Jedi Padawon and Commander of the 501st Legion of the Grand Republic Army.” She paused. “Please, you have to believe me- I didn’t do anything, I don’t know what’s going on- I- I must have been set up or something-“ 

Fox ground his teeth, he was thankful for his helmet, he already felt exposed, he could feel the emotion swirling off of her in a way that was uncomfortable, nauseating and just wrong. He didn’t need her to be able to see that she was throwing him off. “Cut the chatter. I’ll ask a question, you answer only the question. Am I understood?” 

She stood up abruptly, knocking her chair over. “You’re not listening to me!!!- What you need to be doing is checking the security system to figure out why the audio died on the cameras- see who else was in the building! I Di-“ 

His blaster was drawn and leveled at her head. “Sit down, and cut the chatter.” 

She froze, lower lip quiver and eyes narrowed. “A-Alright, just..just put the gun away I’m sorry it’s fine—“ she moved to tip her chair back up, an awkward task with her hands cuffed behind her. “I..I-I’m sorry- I’ll cooperate..”

He slid his weapon back into it’s holster, settling back into his seat. “What were you doing in Turmond’s cell?” 

She fell into the familiar slump that he had seen when he first walked in. It made her too small, too…vulnerable. You’re a soldier kid, don’t let your enemy see you looking weak- straighten up back straight, what use was all that flash training if- but she wasn’t some shiny he was teaching, she was a detained criminal, and her weakness was his gain. 

“I got a notice that she wanted to talk to me…so I went to see what she wanted, she was talking about working with someone inside the order- she was about to tell me who when she started choking.. I couldn’t stop it there was no one else inside- I don’t know…I don’t know…” 

“So you’re saying, you didn’t choke her? It was someone else.” his tone was level but his mind was running a mile a minute. 

_She’s telling the truth. You deal with liars and cheats every day- and she’s telling the truth and you know it. Why don’t you accept it- there’s a reason you feel like you have a knife in your gut and it’s because you know you’re wrong- she’s a hero- she’s just a kid! She’s just a kid. You don’t interrogate children- that’s not your job. Good soldiers follow orders, if you don’t act quickly people will die. If you give her a chance, she will hurt more people- act swiftly and thoroughly._

_Act with your normal efficiency and effectiveness. Efficient and Effective. Do your job, don’t disobey orders. Your job is to protect the citizens of Coruscant. The civilians, the men, women, and children…protect the children, she’s only 17, that’s fairly more than a child. How can you protect the children, she’s only a child-_

He froze, she’d been speaking. He hadn’t heard a word she’d said, so he only hoped those watching the recording would be able to use it, because he was so wrapped up in his own mess of conflicting thoughts. 

“I…you…” Fox cursed himself for stuttering over his words. “We’re done here.” He left the cell, swearing. He was better than this, she’d thrown him off.. must be a Jedi trick, meant to mess with his head. 

Tarkin was waiting outside the cell, scowl already in place. “Commander, I’m disappointed. Are you unable to finish the questioning?” 

Fox shoved the Admirals hand off his shoulder. “I don’t trust Jedi, and I don’t interrogate children. If you want someone to yell at a child do it yourself.” Don’t talk back to superior officers. Don’t talk back to superior officers. Don’t talk back to superior officers. Don’t talk back to superior officers. Don’t talk back to superior officers. Don’t talk back to superior officers. 

“That’s rather unfortunate. Of course, I will have to continue, please wait here.” Tarkin was inside the cell, a shadow off to finish the job Fox was too weak to do. 

He was a good soldier. He stood at attention outside the door. He ignored the crash of the table being thrown over. He ignored an obviously feminine yelp of pain. He ignored the whimpering, the cried defense. He ignored the yells, the anger and the fear. He ignored the pleads to ‘just listen-‘. He was a good soldier and he ignored it all. 

_Don’t talk back to superior officers. Protect the people of Coruscant. She’s a danger to society…she’s only a kid. You don’t treat children this way- I won’t interrogate children. She’s only child. You don’t send children into war. Don’t talk back to superior officers. Face forward, ignore the noises, do your job. Do your duty and do your job._

Early the next morning, Commander Fox was the one to put out the shoot to kill order on Ahsoka. 

_Be a good soldier, do your job. She’s a threat. She killed your brothers eliminate the threat. Be a good soldier, do your job. She’s a threat. Be a good soldier, do your job. She’s a threat. Don’t talk back to superior officers. Do your job, don’t ask questions you don’t want to know the answer to- just do your job. Be a good soldier, follow orders._

_…..She’s only a child._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wellllll....I guess I had to stop being nice eventually, sorry guys I love drama and angst as much as I love humor and family love! I'm torn, though I hope you enjoyed this flip to the..dark side..hehe, get it...anyway, let me know what you think- tell me how you feel!
> 
> (Also, I'm still playing around with formatting on here, so I apologize if it's hard to deal with, eventually I'll figure it out!)


	9. Coric

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nothing involving the 501st ever goes smoothly.. at least they're good humored about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unashamed to say that I love the medics way too much, they're way too fun to write!!!!

It was _supposed_ to be routine mission. Ahsoka and Coric had taken a transport full medical supplies, and were supposed to drop them off at a newly operational medical center that was a few days travel from the Resolute. It had all gone so well, that was. until Ahsoka went to the back to double check that the bigger equipment they were carrying was secure. 

Almost as soon as the doors closed behind her, the ship’s scanners picked up a ship. A large ship. “Uh- Ahsoka- you’ll wanna see this.” She was behind him in a flash, leaning over his shoulder to see what he was looking at. “It looks like a star destroyer…” 

Ahsoka’s eyes narrowed, her brows furrowing together. “Then it’s not one of ours…Stang.”

“You know, the General isn’t fond of how often you’ve been swearing lately.” Coric joked lightly, his eyes never leaving the scanners. “But I have to agree with your sentiments.” 

She rolled her eyes. “Safe the lecture for later when we-“ the beeping signalling an incoming transmission cut her off. “I’ll handle it. It’ll be fine..…” 

_“This is the ‘Conqueror’ identify yourself, you are in airspace which is under the protection of the Confederation of Independent Systems. Identify yourself and your purpose.”_

Ahsoka swore under her breath. “This is Republic shuttle 22-657, we’re on a humanitarian mission to deliver medical supplies to….” she turned to Coric, mouthing ‘Planet in this system??’ he scowled, thinking, before mouthing back ‘Orto?’ “Orto, we’re on our way to deliver humanitarian aid to Orto.”

_“Our sources say Orto is not in need of humanitarian aid, the Admiral requests you dock so that you may discuss under which circumstances the medical supplies can be redistributed. If you do not comply with this wish, you will be shot down.”_

“Alright, we will begin the docking sequence, we’ll speak to you in a moment!” Ahsoka’s chipper voice didn’t match the look of panic that was plastered onto her features. She ended the transmission and fell back into the co-pilot’s chair. “A Jedi and a Clone Medic are NOT a believable team for humanitarian aid…”

“A believable way to get sent straight to questioning and interrogation maybe..you might even warrant a trip to Dooku. I’m assuming you do want me to start the docking sequence?” Comic sat back in his seat, brushing a hand through his hair, but otherwise looking surprisingly calm. 

“No.” 

“….so we’re going with option B, get shot down?” Now he looked a bit more unsettled, brow raised accusingly. “As much fun as that sounds, capture and escape are better than being slaughtered alone in space.” 

Ahsoka leaned forward, typing furiously into the navigation system. “There’s an unmarked planet that has a survivable atmosphere not far from here, if we make the jump to hyperspace dry then they’ll think we’re docking, we’ll get out of here and we can contact Master and get farther instruction.” 

“As brilliant as that sounds, making the jump to hyperspace without proper preparation in this old dump would also end with ‘being slaughtered in space alone’ which is still not an appealing option-“ 

_“Shuttle 22-657 are you docking?”_

“Trust me on this- it’s better this way!” Ashoka jumped to her feet, running back to fiddle with one of the control access panels, in an instant she was back and had pulled the lever to make the jump to activate the hyperdrive before Coric could give farther protest. 

The unprepared jump was unpleasant, to say the least. The walls of the ship rattled and seemed to warp around them and the wave of pressure had both occupants doubled over with vertigo and nausea. Despite the circumstances they made the jump, and were hurtling through hyperspace towards the coordinates Ahsoka had input moments before. She had been thrown out of her seat and was curled up in the back of the cabin, dry heaving, while Coric sat slumped in the pilots chair trying to clear the spots in his vision to no avail. 

The familiar frantic beeping of the alert that signaled contact with an atmosphere or gravitational pull began and both Clone and Jedi could only moan in response. Ahsoka’s eyes shot open, the panic of the new situation outweighing the pain of feeling what lightspeed travel felt like without protective measures. “CORIC- TURN OFF THE SHIP- PUT ALL SYSTEMS OFFLINE!“ 

He snarled in response, having to undo his restraints to reach forward and slam the buttons to completely power off the ship. He slouched to the ground, finding it far easier than trying to find the seat. 

Ahsoka had curled back up around herself, clutching at her montals. “This is going to be pleasant-“

“Incredibly so.” ground out Coric through gritted teeth, he was in a similar position to Ahsoka, curled up and clutching at his head as the rigors of plummeting uncontrolled through the atmosphere of a planet took their toll. 

The shuttle landed surprisingly gracefully considering the circumstances. Not nicely, safely, or well by any means, by they only spun out of control for a minute or so before slamming tail first into the ground. 

Both occupants of the shuttle had been thrown around like ragdolls, losing consciousness before they hit the ground. 

Coric came to first, noticing first that is was cold. Then that he hurt, badly. He forced his eyes open and immediately regretted it as pain shot through his head. “oh…feir’fek…” he began the process of moving each finger one by one, then his toes. He could feel all of them and they all responded which was a good sign. If his assumptions were correct he was crumpled over the copilots seat, and he really hoped the arm of the seat wasn’t the cause of the pain in his lower stomach(though he’d wager it was). He finally settled on general shrapnel/crash injuries, severe pressure sickness, decided the drilling pain in his head was from a burst eardrum, and ‘impaled through the gut with a seat arm’ as his personal diagnosis. 

He heard a low grand that ould only come from Ahsoka, then a hiss of pain and the familiar sound of someone’s stomach emptying itself. “Ohhh…kriff, requesting field euthanasia…” 

Coric chuckled, then winced and immediately regretted it. “If you can joke you can com the General, I’ll discuss mercy killing after you get us a lift out of here.” 

He listened as the young jedi transitioned from whimpering in pain, to swearing in a multitude of languages, to just breathing through her teeth as she tried to maneuver her arm out of the rubble. A satisfying ‘beep’ met his ears. “Master? Rex? Anyone?” 

“Ahsoka?” Coric sighed in relief, if the general answered he’d find a way to get them out. “Where are you guys? They gave you the wrong coordinates and accidentally sent you straight into Separatist territory, are you guys alright, why can’t I contact you through the ships coms?”

“Yeah,” she sounded irritated, with good reason. “We noticed.” A hiss of pain, a muttered curse. “Look we’re on..stang, just track my com unit for kriff’s sake. Neither of us are in any shape to get out of the ship, so just look for the crash sight and then crawl inside and” she stopped trying to catch her breath. “And get us out- Tano out.” 

“Your language is getting worse by the minute,” Coric wished he could at least see his young commander to get a visual evaluation. “General isn’t gonna be happy.” 

“He’s not gonna be happy anyways…” muttered the girl. “How are you holding up?” 

He almost choked, they were on the same track of concern for eachother, which meant she couldn’t see him either. “Well, I’m a lot closer with the copilot seat than I’d ever hoped to be, that’s the worst of it.. what about you?” 

“Bleeding badly, think it’s a head thing, and there’s a nice piece of the door lodged in my side..thinking punctured lung…” 

“Kix is gonna have a field day, pressure sickness, two cases of internal damage and general shrapnel injuries..and an inner ear injury and a head wound…” Coric let out a raspy chuckle. “Did they decide to stop for a snack on the way here or.…”

“Wanna rethink that mercy kill yet?” was the hissed response. She gave a groan and then a yelp as the sound of shifting metal rang in their ears. “no- no- no-“ 

“What’s happening?” his demand cut past the sound of metal crunching against metal. 

“Think they’re trying to open up the ship-“ she might have been gasping as she spoke maybe sobbing, he couldn’t tell for certain. “Some of the wall fell- can’t breath- can’t breath-“ 

“No panicking! If the wall’s moving, they’re coming to get us and we’ll be out in no time! You still have one good lung, use it. You’re fine.”

“Fine isn’t the word I would use.” cut in a new voice. Kix, Force bless him. Kix was there. Ahsoka and Coric let out a sigh of relief at the joking yet calm tone of their medic. “Honestly I don’t even want to know how you managed this, I can barely see the Commander from here, and Coric- is that the arm of the seat? All the way through the armor on both sides- jeez, come on guys you know I hate major organ wounds…” 

Minutes passed and varius troopers came into Coric’s line of view as they moved rubble and pulled Ahsoka out. Rex was beside him, cutting the arm off the chair. “Kix says to take it with us…” he explained weakly, which only caused Coric to groan. 

“Might as well, I mean. Why not-“

They pulled him, and his liver’s new best friend the arm of the chair, out of the ship and laid him on a gurney next to Ahsoka. She turned to him and gave a weak grin, which was weakened farther by the blood covering half her face. “Next time-“ she gave a light gasp for breath, and he noticed she got to keep a good chunk of the door lodged in her side as well. “Next time- we go for negotiating…” 

He coughed, spitting some of the blood that was flowing in his mouth out. “Next time we just take ‘slaughtered in space alone’” 

A shadow loomed over the pair, and the familiar tones of one displeased Jedi Knight met their ears. “NEXT TIME- you com me when you make contact with a Separatist ship instead of throwing yourselves to certain death by breaking all flight protocol that’s ever been written.”

“Yes Master..”

“Yes General..” 

"It was her fault anyway…"

"Oh-" a hiss and a whimper. "Oh go mercy kill yourself Coric-“

"You're just mad because I wouldn't euthanize you…"

Ashoka gave an especially pained whimper. "Yeah, Yeah I am."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Funny story this chapter was up for a week and a half before I realized I spelled Coric's name wrong.... whoops, now it's changed both there and it's correct here! Hope you enjoyed some more humor! Leave a comment and let me know what you think!!!


	10. Jesse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Even droid busting, separatist fighting jedi in training can have trouble with schoolwork from time to time.

Normally, the day before landing on Curascant for leave was a day where everyone took it easy and packed up what few belongings they had. Most people hung out in the mess, or gym and it was an easygoing carefree time. 

Ahsoka was not having an easygoing or carefree time. While the troops got to go hang out at the Base and have free reign of the bars and city, she had to go back to the Temple and make up all the work in the classes she’d missed on their latest campaign. It’s not like she was fighting a war or something, _of course_ she had time to continue taking classes full time when she wasn’t on the Resolute. 

And so, she found herself taking up nearly half a table in the mess with her various datapads, holobooks and sheets of flimsi that were covered in hastily scrawled notes. She sat in the center of this pile of…knowledge, and had sat there with her head on the table for almost half an hour. No one had dared to ask why the Commander was having an emotional breakdown while surrounded by a pile of informational devices, and so she remained undisturbed as the clones discussed when they were going to 79’s or what tattoo they were getting next. In that moment, she loathed each and every one of them. 

Kix, Jesse, and Hardcase sat not far from her table, all watching her in idle amusement. Not that they _enjoyed_ her pain and anguish really, but watching their commanding officer be overwhelmed by schoolwork was too good to pass up. They snickered as she scrolled through a data pad, let out a stream of swears that made the rookies a table over jump. 

That was it. That was the final straw. They knew she was frustrated- but no. NO they just HAD to laugh. “Jesse- if you’re smug enough to laugh then let’s hope you’re smart enough to help. Get over here.” Kix and Hardcase were leaning against each other, laughing so hard they were nearly in tears. Jesse shrugged, and sat down beside her amongst the resources. 

“What can I do for you Commander?” He was grinning, that smug sun of a gun was grinning at her. Ahsoka only scowled farther. 

“You guys are always saying even the dumbest clone is twice as smart as the civilian teacher, so if you’re so brilliant you can help me study for my classes before we get back.” She had her arms crossed over her chest, her sarcasm being wielded as a weapon of defense. She dared him to laugh, _she kriffing dared him_.

Jesse, for what it was worth, managed not to laugh again, and only smiled a little too sweetly. “Of course. I mean, it can’t be that hard. What are your tests over?” 

She sighed, any anger in her swiftly replaced with exasperation. “I have the class final in Domestic Politics and Inter-Planetal Relations, I have to make up the test over ‘The Socio-Economic State of the Outer Rim circa 25,000 BBY’, two quizzes and a test for my Etiquette course, AND finals for my Durese, Rodese, and Shyriiwook language classes.” 

The clone paled. “Wait you’re telling me that in the week we get to spend Planet-side once in a blue moon you’re taking all of these classes?” 

“And meditating, and practicing lightsaber technique and katas, and sparring with other learners and some knights, and teaching youngling classes- and if I’m really lucky I have to put in hours at the Hall of Healing as well.” The two stared at each other for a moment and Ahsoka’s look of ‘I am done with this’ was obvious. 

“Well, that is some agenda isn’t it… and you keep up with schooling here too?” he was almost interested now, all the men assumed that Ahsoka just got all training in the field, she was a warrior- this was war, it made sense to them. None of them had considered the option that she was still taking courses and classes while out in the field. 

She nodded, leaning her chin on the edge of the table. “Yup. Me and some of the other Padawans who aren’t at the Temple as often get our assignments in bulk before we leave for missions or campaigns and then turn them in whenever we can. 

“Thats rough…Uh yeah sure, let’s see what you’ve got here and I can help you out. It’s a lot but I’m sure it can’t be that hard-“ Jesse grabbed one of the holobooks that was towards the top of a stack, he opened it up and immediately regretted his decision. “Wait- why does which fork you use matter?” he flipped through a few more pages, his face crunching to match the look of confusion and irritation Ahsoka had been sporting not too much earlier. “This is ridiculous- why would you ever need to know anything about forks and what the length of a sleeve means?” 

She groaned, her forehead making it’s way back onto the table top. “I know! Is it not the stupidest thing you’ve ever seen? Flip to the 6th chapter- there’s an entire chapter on how to pour tea- as if we don’t all kriffing well know how to pour some tea!” 

Jesse set the book aside, shaking his head. “That’s just silly, it’s not like you’re ever gonna use any of this etiquette stuff anyways. Listen to your superiors and a good ‘Yes sir, no sir’ is all you need.” 

“That’s what I said-“ came the muffled response from Ahsoka. “Apparently when I talk to those of a higher status than me I’m ‘too military’.” 

“Well that’s ridiculous you _are_ military. I’m certain you spend more time as an acting commander than you do a dignitary, so it makes sense your manners reflect that.” He frowned, grabbing another book. “How about this- this-…..I can’t read this.” 

Ahsoka groaned. “I thought you guys were flash trained with a knowledge of a bunch of languages- it’s Durese- even the bums on the street corners of kriffing Tatooine understand Durese!” 

From their table, Kix and Hardcase were having a blast as Jesse slowly grew as frustrated as their Commander and even more confused. The two clones had tears running down their face, and were clutching onto each other for some semblance of support. The two tables in question were earning their fair share of curious glances from the other troopers. 

Jesse had discarded that book as well and picked up a sheet of notes that were in Ahsoka’s familiar scrawl. “the discovery of the Perlemian TR linked the growing Rep with the Outer Rim world of Ossus, which became the domain of the Jedi Order over the years(lots of years) Eventually, the Rep began colonizing worlds within the area. While the Rep continued to expand in the Core Worlds and the Colonies, Ossus became a fortress world blocking Tionese and Hutt expansion past-” He stopped mid sentence, staring at her with wide eyes. “What is that even supposed to mean?” 

“I thought clones were supposed to be smart!-“ snapped Ahsoka irritably. “The trade route linked the Republic to the Outer Rim- specifically Ossus, which allowed the Republic to colonize the Outer Rim AND make an end point for the Hutt expansion and slave trade route- it’s basic stuff Jesse- You were supposed to help me not be worse at this stuff than I am!”    
It was his turn to groan in frustration. “Well you obviously know that pretty well- let’s move on-“ 

“We haven’t even covered anything to begin with! We can’t move on- because we haven’t done anything!” 

“Well I don’t see why any of this is important, so I say you just don’t do it. Spend some more time doing something that you’ll actually use like training or working on the ships or something…” Jesse shrugged. “This is just..useless nonsense, honestly.” 

 “I can’t just not do it.” said Ahsoka with a sigh. 

He stared at her, unconvinced. “Well…why not?” 

She sighed, rolling her eyes. “Because! It’s like when you guys are in the barracks and have an inspection- you can’t just skip it!” 

“Well inspections have reason and use- this stuff is useless and unreasonable. Therefore, just skip it.” He gave a nonchalant sort of shrug. “I don’t really see what the problem is…” 

“The problem-“ She was glaring at him now, a finger poking into his chest to emphasize her point. “Is that this ‘nonsense’ is knowledge I’m apparently going to need someday- and if the Jedi _Masters_ say it’s important- than I’m going to at least humor them and learn it no matter how ridiculous- AND if I don’t pass these courses then I’l have to take them again, and it’ll make both me and my Master look bad, and I’m already one of the youngest Padawans so I’m on thin ice and I don’t need to give them anything to send me to the AgriCorps over— So just stop making fun of this because as ‘stupid’ as it may be I need to do good so that I don’t let everyone down!!!” 

Jesse was fairly sure he was going to have a bruise on the spot on his chest where she’d been mercilessly jabbing him with her accusatory finger. “Alright, alright, calm down..” he gentle moved her hand away from him and set it on the table, giving it a soft ‘pat’ before letting go. “Look, honestly I think you know this stuff. You’re a bright kid, you picked up all this military stuff” he gestured around him. “stuff in less than a week, if you’ve been studying all this trip, then I’d wager you know it. You’d do good to take some time to relax and have some ‘you time’ before you have to go back.” 

She paused in her rage and titled her head to the side, nose scrunched in thought. “Well…that makes sense I guess… thanks Jesse! I guess you did help me after all!” 

He grinned. “Told you I would, now let’s go put all this nonsense-“ Her pout stopped him. “Stuff, let’s put this _stuff_ away and then you can come with Kix, Hardcase and me to go watch Fives challenger the Captain to hand to hand.”  

“Rexter versus Fives? Sounds like a party to me! Let’s go!” She began gathering her various resources and Jesse grabbed a stack, following her back to her quarters he smiled as she chattered on about her guess as to the results of the impending match. 

He grinned to himself. _'If she keeps this up, the 501st might just adopt her…she’s as close to being a brother as a 14 year old Togruta Jedi has ever been, that's for sure..little brat, probably doesn't even realize it.'_  He shook his head and followed after her, giving her a solid pat on the back. "I think you're right Kid, my money's on Rex too!" 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another fun one!!!! Let me know what you think and let me know if you have any suggestions!!!!


	11. Hardcase

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So maybe tasking Ahsoka with keeping him out of trouble wasn't their most thought out plan...

Rex dropped the datapad he was holding and swore profusely. He sat down at his desk and immediately commed Kix. “Kix, This is Rex.”

The Medic’s voice came through instantaneously. _“This is about Hardcase, right?”_

“What else would it be about? What do you expect me to do about him?” the captain sighed, rubbing his forehead to try an relieve the tension that resided there. 

_“Rex, it’s worse than it was the last time. He’s just laying here staring at the ceiling and fidgeting like you couldn’t imagine, he looks miserable, Jesse and I can snap him out of it for a little bit but we can’t sit around with him for until he’s field ready again, we have other responsibilities- ”_

“Look, I don’t know what to tell you but this isn’t something I can just fix. It’s not like a babysitter for Hardcase is just gonna walk through my door.” Rex sighed, and a knock followed by the slide of the doors opening drew his attention. “Nevermind Kix, I think I just found the solution to all of our problems.” 

“What problems?” asked Ahsoka, one brow marking quirked in question. 

Rex stood, giving her a rare grin. “Well, believe it or not, Kix was just asking me if I knew of anyone who was skilled,responsible, and mature enough for a very important job. You think you’re up for it Little’Un?” 

The young Togruta puffed up with pride at that, jutting her chin out. “Of course I am Rexter!!!-“ she stopped, giving him an accusatory look. “Unless it’s inventory- I’m not up for that. Not again-“

“No, nothing like that.” soothed Rex as he put a hand on her shoulder and let her out of his office. “All I need you to do is stay with Hardcase while he’s on sick leave,” not wanting to tell her that she was babysitting a brother just because he was freakishly active and got in weird funks when he had to be on bed rest, he fumbled through an excuse. “You see, we clones are so used to being around our brothers all the time, it can be uh… difficult, it can be difficult for us to be stuck alone while everyone else is training….so, if you kept him company it would really help him out.” 

She grinned, snapping to what he assumed was ‘attention’. “You can count on me Rexter!” Ahsoka gave a solute that turned into a thumbs up and without another words she was running down the hall to the med bay. 

Rex smiled to himself, contacting Kix again. “I have the solution to your problem hurtling towards your position at about…how fast does the Little’Un run when she’s excited?” he couldn’t hide the amusement in his voice. 

Kix grinned as Ahsoka came barreling through the doors not soon after Rex had contacted him. “‘Solution’ received, thanks Rex.” 

“HeyKixgotaMissionfromRexcouldyoutellmewhereHardcaseispleaaaaaaase?” she was bouncing on the balls of her feet as she spoke and she gazed up at him expectantly. 

The medic resisted the urge to laugh at her. “Slow that down for me Kid, what is it you need now?” 

She rolled her eyes, and spoke again. “Hey Kix-“ 

“Hey to you too-“ 

She ignored him and continued. “Mission from Rex, could you tell me where Hardcase is pretty please?” 

Kix grinned, once again biting his tongue to resist chuckling. He pointed to the far corner of the med bay to the only occupied cot. “Hardcase is right over there, I have to go to drill training with the rest of Torrent, you gonna be ok on your own?”  

“Of course! Thanks Kix!” She shot towards her ‘mission’ and Kix allowed himself a laugh as he left the med bay. 

She grabbed a nearby chair and slid over to the side of the trooper’s cot. He was staring at the ceiling, his leg that wasn’t in a cast bouncing and on both hands his fingers were tapping against the rails of the bed. “Hey Hardcase, how’ya holding up?” 

His head snapped to face her and he slid up so he was sitting up and grinned. “Bored out of my mind, I swear if I had to sit here alone for any longer I’d completely lose it!” 

“Well, It is now my personal duty to make sure that doesn’t happen!” she swung her legs out in front of her. “Soooooo….Jesse said you missed the entire battle, so how did you manage to get bed rest and that thing?” she pointed to the blue doodle coated cast that covered his foot up to his thigh. 

“Well,” the life seemed to return to his eyes as he started talking, like a flame igniting in a candle. “Kix and Jesse told me there was no way I would be the first one off the transport, since I was in the back and I had my gun to lug and all- well, I had to prove them wrong, of course…so as soon as the doors opened I jumped….” as he got more into his story, his leg stopped bouncing and his hands were too busy gesturing to tap. “Guess I forgot the doors open before we land because there I go hurtling through the air until a land in a tree almost 5 klicks from the drop zone. They made Coric parachute after me and he says I was lucky I didn’t break my neck. Anyway, I did fracture the ole leg here in five different spots but other than that I’m still 200%! What are you doing here anyway kid, shouldn’t you be at drill with the rest of ‘em?” 

“Nah,” Ahsoka shrugged. “Rex said I should spend time here with you so that’s what I’m doing! Besides, hanging out with you is way better than getting yelled at by Rex to _‘keep your head down- lower Little’Un- run faster- GET YOUR HEAD DOWN-_ ‘“ her own impression of the captain had sent her into a fit of laughter and Hardcase shared in her mirth. “So, here I am!” 

“Well I appreciate that, though if I were you I’d rather be running drills than sitting her doing absolutely nothing.” 

She rolled her eyes, tucking her feet up under her on the chair. “Well I’m not doing nothing, I’m hanging out with you- soooo I’d much rather be here than at drills.” 

“I’d still rather be out doing something.” Hardcase sighed, pouting slightly. “I hate just sitting around, drives me crazy.” 

Ahsoka glanced at her wrist pad, pulling up the time. “Well, we still have a few minutes before we can sneak out to go do something so until then you’ll have to put up with just talking.” 

“Sneaking out?” this had his attention. “I’m on strict bed rest orders, I don’t know what to tell ya..” 

Her grin was so sweet it could have molded teeth. “Just trust me, when the time comes you’ll understand! Until then, we talk.” 

Hardcase sighed. “Talking it is then.” he tilted his head and inspected her. “How long have you even been hanging around with us? I swear you used to be shorter…” 

She rolled her eyes again. “Kix, Coric, and the temple healers will all confirm that I haven’t grown at all since I’ve been here.” she smiled again. “And I’ve been with the 501st for almost two months now!” 

“Two whole months?” Hardcase took a moment pretending to be deep thought. “Well then, you’re certainly no Shiny anymore, what’s your name gonna be?” 

She looked at him quizzically. “Ahsoka?….. since that _is_ my name?” 

He laughed. “No, your _name_. You spend enough time with us brothers, you’re like our…our weird little sister! So you need a name that means something, not just what you’re given.” 

“Well, you know more about this stuff than I do. What do you think my name should be?” 

Hardcase tapped his chin, grinning thoughtfully. “Hmmm, it should reflect your personality, while really representing who you are as a person…simple, but not obvious…. and original too….Stripes!” 

Ahsoka stared at him incredulously. “Stripes? _Stripes?!?_ That’s not original and it’s completely obvious!” 

“Well that’s what I’m gonna call you from now on so get used to it!” the clone grinned widely. “Our one and only little sister, Stripes. Oh Kix and Jesse’ll get a kick out of it- Fives and Coric too I bet!”  She groaned. “That’s just silly! Oh nevermind, it’s time to get you outta here!” her pout was replaced with a smirk and she hopped out of her chair and crawled under the cot. 

“What are you doin’ down there? How exactly do you plan to break me outta here anyway, huh Stripes?” 

Ignoring the nickname, She popped back up. “Well, the cots have wheels, and I just turned off the locking breaks…so now you can roll almost anywhere and still be on _bed_ rest!” 

Hardcase blinked, “Why have I never thought of this before?” the pair grinned at each other and Ahsoka cleared a path from the bed to the door. 

“Beats me, I noticed it one time when I was hiding from Skyguy, and I thought of it now and it works out perfectly! she pushed the cot out and grinned even wider. “And theres even a bar on the back I can stand on to ride after we get momentum!!!” 

“What are you waiting for? Let’s get out of here and see how fast this thing can go!” Hardcase settled himself in preparation and let out a laugh as Ahsoka began pushing them through the med bay and out into the halls, which were conveniently empty due to all the other men being at drill. “Come on Stripes you can go faster than this! Get going and then ride out the turns!” 

“Working on it!” shot back ‘Stripes’ through ground teeth, the cot was heavier than expected but as she put a little Force into her sprinting they began picking up speed, right before they reached a turn in the hall, she hopped onto the bar on the back of the bed, yanking one corner to force the cot to turn. There was a squealing noise as the metal bars skidded against the floor, and one side of the bed rose into the air only to come back down with a crash.  

“There we go! Go to the mess we can scare some flight crew!” demanded Hardcase through his laughter. She obliged, hopping back off the bar to run behind the cart again, a bit surprised at the ease she had maneuvering it through the turns of the hallway, until the reached the open space of the mess. She hopped back on, riding it through the tables, almost knocking a squad of pilots over in the process. “Sorry boys!” called the trooper as they passed, though the grin wasn’t moved from his face. 

They rode out the doors on the opposite side of the mess and slammed straight into a cleaning droid. “Watch it! I’m driving here!” yelled Ahsoka, only for the wheels of the cart to slide into the pile of water that had spilled out of the droid. “Oh no- oh no-“  

“Watch it Stripes! Your driving isn’t so great anymore-“ Hardcase sounded no less excited than he had before, despite his ‘scolding’. 

“Not my fault, give me a minute-“ She hopped back onto the ground, trying to gain speed to regain control….it wasn’t working. “Nevermind- Prepare for Impact!!!” she grabbed back onto the cot and both occupants winced as they prepared to slam into a door…it never happened. Ahsoka froze, eyes wide in horror. The only automatic doors were the ones to the training gym. 

“Oh Stang-“ Hardcase voiced her concern for her. The came wailing into the training gym, slamming directly into a group of Clones who were avoiding laser fire from a training droid. 

“No- No- No- No- No- No- No- No- “ the two cried out together before the fire shut off and they were left sitting on the cot that was slowly moving forward as the Clones, in full uniform none the less, stood around them, speechless. 

Hardcase burst out laughing, and Ahsoka groaned, bring her face in the top of the pillows he was sitting against. 

“See Echo! I _told you_ cot racing would be a thing eventually!!!” burst out Fives triumphantly.

Kix turned to Rex, grinning behind his helmet. “The Solution to all our problems huh?” 

Rex sighed. “We’re not telling the General about this…” 

“Agreed!” called Ahsoka, before she hopped off the cot and began pushing it towards the other door at top speed. “That’s a wizard idea Rexter, thanks a billion!” 

Hardcase laughed again, giving a smirk and a wave to his brothers as the cot racing duo sped out of the room. 

Fives took his helmet off and elbowed Echo. “I bet we could beat ‘em in a race.” 

“Don’t you even think about it-“ hissed Rex with a scowl. “One Chaos-Cot is more than enough.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another fun one! I have some friends who remind me of Hardcase, and none of them deal with being cooped up well so that's what inspired this! Hope you enjoyed it, let me know what you think!!!!


	12. Slick

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Is there anyway this can go..well? probably not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like to call this chapter: 'Ahsoka took after her master just a bit'

“You want me to..to what exactly?” Ahsoka gazed up at the council of Jedi Masters, jaw hanging open and eyes wide. “I’m sorry Masters, I…I don’t think I’m the right person for this mission..a healer maybe, or even just a Knight at least…” 

Master Windu raised a brow as he addressed her. “Are you questioning the decision of the council?” 

“No, I mean..yes, no, I just-…..don’t feel like I’m suited for this mission.… A healer maybe, or someone stronger in the force- I’m just a padawan, I’m still learning..What makes me qualified to judge another person and decide their fate..” she had her hands clutched behind her back and was resisting the urge to fidget, she hadn’t felt this nervous since she was first assigned to her Master nearly two and a half years earlier. 

“Trust your instincts, you must.” spoke up Yoda, a sense of finality to his words. 

“Yes Master.” Ahsoka bowed to the council and rose. “I’ll go to the detention facility later this evening. Thank you.” She gave another bow and left the council chambers, her hands shaking as she pushed the door open. 

She went straight to the room of her ‘second master’ and sat down against his door to wait for him to return from the rest of the council meeting. Obi-Wan hadn’t said much in regards to her new mission, and she needed some guidance that she was fairly sure her headstrong, emotional Master couldn’t offer. 

About an hour later footsteps echoed lightly through the hall and she jumped to her feet, giving a short bow to Obi-Wan as he approached. “Ahsoka, what brings you by?” 

She shifted from foot to foot, her hands still clasped together to keep from fidgeting. “I was wondering if I could get some guidance about my mission, Master. I would have asked Anakin..but he can be a bit…headstrong for this sort of thing.” 

Obi-Wan nodded understandingly and opened his door, ushering her inside. “Come along young one, let’s discuss your situation over some tea.” 

And so she sat at Obi-Wan’s low table, knees tucked under her and a warm cup of tea cradled in her hands. He sat down across from her, setting his cup on the table. “Now, what is it that’s troubling you?” 

Ahsoka sighed, setting her tea down as well. “They want me to judge whether a man deserves to live the rest of his life in jail, or be killed. I’ve had no training as a mind healer, and I have no great control over the force to tell what is right. Don’t understand why I was assigned this mission, Master. I’m too close to the clones as a whole, and I’m not even a knight yet-“ 

“Perhaps,” began the knight as he stroked his beard in thought. “You were assigned this task to challenge you? Anakin says you have good instincts, but you have trouble fully trusting the Force. The Council has recognized that, as well, as you so aptly put it, your closeness to the Clones. Though I may not agree with it, this could be the Councils way of testing you.” 

“I see…. thank you for telling me…” she stared into the steam rising off of her drink, head resting in her hand. “Do you have any advice? You’ve met him before, the clone traitor…is there anything I should know going in?” 

“His name fits him, Slick. He’s crafty, very discreet…almost like a fox. He has this immense anger against the Jedi, and he’ll likely not react well to you showing up.” he sighed. “That’s all I can really say, trust in the Force and in yourself padawan. May the Force be with you.” 

Ahsoka stood, giving him a nod. “Thank you Master, and thank you for the tea.” She hadn’t drank so much as a sip, she realized as she was walking out of his quarters.

She didn’t particularly want to run into her own Master before she went to go speak with, and finally judge Slick. He would ask questions and make things harder, even if he meant well. She read over the file she was given as she headed out to the lot of speeders the Jedi had access to. Showing the guard her speeder request form she was able to take one and be on her way to the detention center. 

Walking in, it only took a few flashes of her mission’s papers to haver her led to the long term solitary confinement wing, where she was ushered into a cell with the clone who’s fate was in her hands. 

Slick was laying on his bunk, his back to her. She knew he was awake, but would allow him to act out whatever game he was playing at. She sat on the far side of the small table in the cell for nearly forty minutes before he stirred. He turned, glanced over his shoulder and scowled. 

“Kriffing Council..send a youngling to do an executioners job. They would.” He sat up as he spoke, moving to sit on the edge of his bed. “You’re what, 14-15?” 

“16, actually. My name’s Ahsoka, and the Jedi Council sent me to speak with you for a bit.” she sat calmly, releasing her anxieties into the Force as the seemed to keep popping up. 

He spat on the floor of the cell, glaring at her. “So what, they sent a kid to lessen the blow when they finally decide it’s time for me to bite the bullet. You’re what, the bearer of bad news? Well listen here Brat, I’ve-“ 

“I wasn’t finished.” she spoke firmly, and maintained steady eye contact. My name is Ahsoka Tano, I’m a Jedi Padawan under Master Skywalker. I’ve served on the front line for the past two years, and the Jedi Council sent me here to speak with you, after which I will decide if you will remain in this facility until farther notice, or if you will be executed for your actions.” 

Slick let out a cold, annoyed sort of laugh. “Judge, Jury, and executioner. Don’t you have a fun job. Tell you what Brat, I’ll play nice, what do you want hear?” 

“Actually, I’d like to focus on what you want to tell me.” she pulled her legs up under her in the chair, and settled back. “You can tell me whatever you like, I may ask some questions, but for the most part what you tell me is what I will take into consideration for your future. Does that work for you?” 

He scowled, laying back down on his bed. They sat in silence for a few minutes before he finally spoke. “I don’t have to tell you anything.” His tone was dry, almost defensive. 

Ahsoka shrugged. “No, you don’t have to do anything. But as of now, I only have reports to base my call off of, so it would be in your best interest to present yourself as you’d like to be perceived.” 

“Present myself?” he was sitting up straight now. “Present myself? Are you kriffing kidding me- I was a slave once, I don’t need to know what it’s like to be put on display as well.”

“A slave?” this drew her attention. “For a mission at some point, you mean?” 

“No.” He spat the word out like it tasted bad in his mouth. “I- my brothers- we’re all slaves to you Jedi and your _precious Republic_. You use us and toss us away and we’re just pawns and playthings for you to better fight your war. You created us to die- to be used and abused and broken, and you created us to be ruled and mastered.” 

She kept her face neutral, but the trembling in her hands had begun again. _‘He’s just trying to get to me, to psyche me out. Don’t mind it, he’s sneaky and silver tongued, he’s a liar and I just have to stay calm.’_

Slick watched her carefully before moving to sit across the table from her. “What’s the matter Tailhead? Not ready to accept that the Jedi created me and my brothers as expendable tools meant to die so that you scum don’t have to. For a cult that claims to be all about ‘selflessness and helping others’ It seems pretty questionable to force others to fight a battle they weren’t even in existence to start.” 

“The Jedi are only fighting this war because the Republic needs us too. It’s not our war anymore than it is yours.” she spoke softly, still keeping a calm exterior. 

“Really? I seem to remember it was your master that was at the very declaration of war. Him and Kenobi have been at the center of this war from the beginning. A Jedi commissioned the clone army from Kamino. Tell me, when the Jedi make up nearly 60% of all commanding officers, how is it the Republic’s war?” He leaned back in the chair, balancing on the back two legs. “No response? No surprise, you Jedi-Brats shut down the instant your kriffing establishment is questioned. Tell me, do you even know how to think for yourself?” 

“I..” Ahsoka swallowed her words. “I don’t see how any of this is relevant to the issue at hand-“ 

“You need to ‘understand me’ right? This is me, the very core of my ideals and being. I love my brother more than my life, and I despise you bigoted Jedi just as strongly. That’s it, case closed. Give me my verdict oh-“ 

“We care about them too-“ she blurted out before she could stop herself. She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. “Your brothers, we do our best to prevent their deaths, we bond with them- you can’t say we just throw them away when we’re out there fighting with them!” 

“Look Brat, you’re a brainwashed child soldier who has been force fed this bantha fodder since you were forcibly taken from your family as a baby, so I wouldn’t expect you to get this. You’re conditioned _not_ to get this, as much as my brothers are conditioned to blindly follow orders. Have you ever asked a clone what he wants to do after the war?” 

Her face was blank and she didn’t reply, he smirked. “Course not. I’ve never met a single brother who thinks he’ll make it through the war.” 

“Look here-“ Ahsoka was getting frustrated now. His hatred was swirling around her and mixing with her confusion and fear and it was like the Force itself was in a stage of agitation. “People die in wars- it happens! And it’s terrible, but I have never thrown a brother to die and you did! You set your brothers up and sold them out to the Separatists! Don’t tell me you care about them when you were willing to let them die for your own vendetta! You killed so many of your brothers with your actions- and you’re blinded by your hatred you!” 

Slick scowled, no longer looking as smug as he had moments before. “Shut up, you have no idea what you’re talking about- leave it at that you brat!” 

“Leave it? You know- I’ve met some of the men from your old platoon- Chopper transferred into my company and never have I seen men messed up in the way you managed! My men have made it through some of the most difficult battles of this war, they made it through Umbara- but the only men traumatized to the level I saw in Chopper were the others under your command! They don’t trust themselves- they don’t trust their brothers- and they don’t trust us to lead them, because you manipulated them and used them in a plot for your own gain! Don’t tell me to leave it or that you care when I spent weeks trying to pick up the pieces you scattered in those men!” She was standing now, fists clenched at her side, her chair toppled behind her. “I didn’t know what happened to those men until today- nobody told me why they were so disturbed so imagine my surprise when I see that Chopper served under you and suddenly it all makes sense! You broke your brothers in a way I couldn’t even begin to describe- so don’t kriffing tell me you give a damn about them!” 

“They were too blind to see that I was doing good! They were too busy trying to be ‘good soldiers’ and listening to your Jedi lies to see I was doing good for them!” 

“I don’t lie to my men.” hissed Ahsoka. “You certainly did, you also left them to die and sold them out, so don’t tell me I’m the one in the wrong here when you’e done so much more.” 

He scoffed, barking in laughter. “Don’t lie to them? Your bigoted order is built on lies and half truths.”  

“I don’t need your approval and I already know where you stand. Just say what ever else you want to say so I can leave already. Just, make it quick.” She grabbed her chair, and slammed it back into place before sitting again, her arms crossed over her chest. 

“I don’t have anything else to say, well, in regards to you deciding my fate. But I have some advice for you, if you wanna hear it Tailhead.” 

“Get on with it then.” demanded Ahsoka with a scowl, her brow scrunched together. 

“Your men are never going to fully accept you. Sure they’ll follow orders and share rations during breaks, but inside they all know that you are the reason they’re enslaved to fight without choice. Each man is bitter because you take away any hope of a future because you created them to have a future. A part of them will always hate you, because you have a freedom they’ll never taste. None of them trust you- hell, none of them even actually like you. You’re their slaver, a guard to their cage, the door blocking their freedom and if they ever got the chance to cut you down to gain their own lives they would all do it in a heartbeat.” 

Images of her men flashed through her head. Tup and his bun, laughing and looking desperately for approval from her and the vets. Fives and his laughter and jokes, her chest tightened at the thought of Echo, gone too soon, no longer able to tell her about the newest GAR manuals. Hardcase, Jesse, and Kix, in the mess, Coric bandaging a wound with a smile, Dogma and his regulation manners who got flustered at even the slightest jab or contact. Visiting with Cody or Wolffe when she was with their company, they’d both helped her learn the ropes…and Rex, the man she called her best friend, who’d managed to keep her alive as a child in the midst of war.. _there was no way they could hate her, was there?_

“It makes sense, doesn’t it.” sneered Slick. “Even the loose ones, the friendly ones were always a little withheld around you. They humored you, but you saw the sideways glances, the whispers. Could you feel their anger at you after battles or did you just block that out?” He watched her fists clench around the edge of the table. “So, what’s my fate Little Miss Judgement?” 

_He’ll live. Let him rot. If he stays alive he can learn the error of his ways, he’ll have a new chance at life, move on to do good. A second chance, a second run at life. He’ll live. Let him live._ The Force swirled around her and she could almost hear it whispering to her. The Force told her to let him stay locked up. It was so clear what she was supposed to do, for once in her life she could read the Force’s will and follow it. 

She merely at him and pressed her comm so that she would be let out. “I hope you enjoy your stay.” He laughed as she left, and he could hear his laughter echoing in her head as she thought of Chopper, of Gus, of Punch, of Sketch, of Jester, of the clones that died because of his treachery. It grew in volume as she looked at her shaken belief in the very order she committed her life to and as she realized she no longer trusted her men the same ways. 

“Ma’am, what did you decide?” questioned Fox as she sat her report down. 

She scowled, signing the datapad he held out. “Kill him. He’s a waste of perfectly good resources and space.” 

The Force wanted him alive, but her anger had condemned him to death the very second he’d questioned the bond between her and her men.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! This one took a way more dramatic turn that I had intended when originally writing it but I figure Ahsoka needed to have a few Anakin moments in her life. Leave a comment and let me know what you think!!!


	13. Waxer and Boil

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ahsoka has a very strict 'no trooper left behind policy'

“Cody…when I gave the order for all troops to pull back, I didn’t mean all troops minus Ahsoka…” Obi-Wan sighed, thanking the Force he’d been through worse with Anakin as his padawan. He was spending time with his ‘grand-padawan’ and she appeared to have the same stubborn streak as her master. 

_“She said she was going after Waxer and Boil sir, said she wouldn’t leave them behind. She said to head out and she would find a way to meet us later…Not sure how she plans to do that, sir…but she seemed confident.” Commander Cody stood next to Obi-Wan, frowning slightly. “If I may sir, it’s like having a tiny Skywalker around who’s just cute enough I feel bad yelling at her.”_

“You’ll get over it eventually.” said the Jedi with a soft chuckle. “Now, let’s try calling her back one last time before I call her master.” He raised his comm closer to his face. “Ahsoka, Ahsoka come in. The transports need to get off world now. Come in, you need to get back here so we can retreat.” 

_“Sorry Master, Cody and I sent Waxer and Boil out on a scouting mission a bit before the recall order, so I need to go get them! You guys can head off, don’t worry about it! I’ll meet you and Skyguy back on the Resolute, I’ve got it under control!”_

“Ahsoka, this is not optional. Get back to the ship.” He sighed, she really was too much like Anakin, all headstrong and compassion for her troops. 

_“Sorry Master- No can do! Don’t worry, We’ll be back before you know it- maybe even in time for evening meditation!!! Ahsoka out!”_

“Ahsoka! Ahsoka?!…she turned off the signal….and here I’d hoped disobeying direct orders was a trend that skipped a generation each time..apparently I was the only one to miss that little habit…” Obi-Wan rubbed his forehead, sighing. “Cody, tell the troops to pull off. We need to get off this planet.” 

Cody eyed him. “Do you think that’s wise? Leaving the Youngling here alone to look for two troopers who we’ve lost contact with?” 

Obi-Wan sighed. “We need to get these transports off world before the Separatist launch an attack, besides Ahsoka is fully capable of getting herself off a planet and you’ve said it yourself, Waxer and Boil are as good as they come. If anyone can find their way off an enemy planet, it’s those three. Have some faith Commander, it’s all we can do.” 

Ahsoka smiled to herself as she watched the transport ships rise into her line of sight, just past a range of mountains and disappear into the clouds that hung just over the mountainous world. “I am going to be in so much trouble when we get back…well, that’s a then problem, now…time to find my men.” 

She pulled up the holo map of the landscape and zoomed in on the area she and Commander Cody and sent them to scout out not two hours before. “They should be in this sector, if I get moving I can catch up with them before they make it to the base of the big mountain right there…”

The Togruta sprinted across the landscape, making good time across the rocky terrain. She kept an eye out for any signs of the droid army that was now free to roam the planet, but the only movement she’d seen had come from a pack of rodents that only just barely came up to her ankles. 

In the distance, she spotted to white armored figures beginning to climb up the edge of a cliff. She directed her marathon towards them, their figures slowly growing from the size of bolt heads until she was standing at the base of the rock face. “Boys- Waxer, Boil! Get down here!” 

Both Helmeted heads immediately spun to face her and they began climbing back down until they were all back together on the ground. They removed their helmets, exposing their confused looks. Boil cocked a brow in question. “Uh..Sir, not to be rude…but, what are you doing here?”

Ahsoka rubbed the back of her head with a forced smile. “Well you see…Master Obi-Wan ordered a full retreat, and the signal wasn’t reaching you guys…so I came to find you, but they needed to leave…long story short we are the last republic troops on a Separatist controlled planet..and we have no promised way off….” 

“Great. So, I don’t suppose we can just drop them a distress signal and they can come pick us up?” questioned Boil with a scowl. 

“I, may have told them we would just find a way to get back to them..besides, it would be too dangerous for them to reenter the atmosphere, that would draw the clankers to our position in a flash. We’re on our own.”

Waxer paled. “Well, I’m glad you came to find us at least…but, do you have any sort of plan or…” he couldn’t quite figure out what he wanted to say to complete the sentence, somewhere between ‘did you just want to start a life here?’ and ‘should we just lay down and die peacefully?’.

“Well,” she started, trying to sound calm and casual. “I figured we could just hijack one of the Seppy ships, and meet up with the Resolute that way.. unless either of you have a better plan of course, I am taking suggestions at this time.” 

The two clones stared at her, Waxer’s mouth open, and Boil’s brows furrowed in a scowl. They glanced at each other, then back at her…then eachother, and finally back to her. Boil spoke first. “Your plan is to just waltz in…and steal a ship….”

Ahsoka grinned sheepishly. “Well…well yeah.” 

Boil turned to his brother. “We’re going to die here-“ 

“Oh shut up- “ cut in Ahsoka with a frown. “I’ve gotten myself and my men out of way worse- trust me.”

“She did come back for us…” said Waxer with a shrug. “Worst possible outcome we die here, best we get back to General Kenobi in one piece. Nothing too new…” 

His brother sighed, rubbing his hand over his mustache. “Why not. So Commander Tailhead, what do we do now?” 

“Well, we’re going to start with you not calling me that- and then I’m assuming you two scoped out the base a few kliks south of here?” at their nods she continued. “From the information we had, that appeared to be where most of the ships were kept, so…we sneak in, take a ship, and get off world as fast as we can.” 

“Sounds like a plan to me. Let’s get going, sooner we get off this dump the better- that is if it’s alright with you, sir…” Waxer amended his ‘declaration’ quickly, in some attempt to make up for the lack of manners his battle buddy constantly displayed. 

“I couldn’t agree more, let’s head out.” Ahsoka led the way, bouncing along the rocky ridge at a surprising speed. 

“She’s a speedy little thing isn’t she…” muttered Boil as he put his helmet back into place and the two clones rushed after her. 

Ahsoka turned and glanced at the pair over her shoulder. “Watch these rocks up here- some of them are unstable and could crumble or shift.” 

Boil rolled his eyes. “As if we need her to tell us that- KRIFF-“ as he spoke the rock he’d jumped too shifted to the side and his ankle and foot rolled with it, even with Waxer grabbing his shoulders to keep him upright. “Of course that would happen- of course!” 

Ahsoka stopped and made her way back to meet up with the clones. Waxer eased Boil to the ground so he could sit. “How bad is it?” 

“I don’t think it’s broken, but it hurts something intense.” Boil swore under his breath, pulling himself to his feet using Waxer as a brace. “But we need to get moving, the longer we’re out here the more likely we are to be picked up on a Seppy life scan or something..”

“Boil, I’m slow enough as is, if I’m helping you we won’t make any progress, if Commander Tano helps you then maybe we’ll get there sooner…” the injured clone in question scowled but didn’t make any signs of protest. “alright then.” Waxer shifted his brother off his shoulder and Ahsoka came over and accepted the burden. 

“Let’s get going.” chirped Ahsoka as she adjusted to Boil’s weight on her shoulders and began guiding them along the path once again. Waxer’s theory had been right, with the burden of Boil on her, Ahsoka was now moving at the same pace as Waxer instead of flitting ahead and constantly turning to wait for the clones. They moved as a unit and soon they could make out the Seperatist base and the landing yard of ships. 

“So…where do we go from here then? Just, go in guns a blazing?” Boil’s hand was already inching towards his blaster just talking about it. 

“Either of you two have any piloting experience?” both clones shook their head and Ahsoka sighed. “Well, then this is going to be interesting. I can cover you guys while you clear a ship and then I’ll need Waxer to take one of the guns…well, hoping the ship has a gun that is and keep anyone off our tail while I fly us out of here….So I’ll distract, you guys get a ship, we’ll see how it goes…” 

“We’ll try an go for one of the smaller vessels…like the ones along the north edge there..” Boil pointed to the far edge of the landing field. “If you come in with a distraction along the south here and draw their forces, we can get in no problem. Then you just have to outrun some clankers and we’re pretty much set…” 

“Well then, I’ll see you boys on a ship in a few minutes. Try not to get shot or anything, I’d hate to have to explain that to Master Obi-Wan.” Ahsoka gave them a wide grin and then flipped out from behind the rock ridge, and was sprinting towards the base, lightsabers flashing. 

“Here’s hoping she doesn’t get herself killed.” muttered Boil. His brother wrapped an arm around his shoulders to keep him up. 

Waxer sighed. “Well let’s go get a ship before that happens.” 

The clones took the long way around the base, glancing over to watch their small temporary commander slice through swarms of droids with ease. She was doing a good job of drawing both the droids fire and attention, and despite the alarms going off around the compound all of the droid forces were swarming towards the jedi and away from the Clone’s destination. 

The pair climbed the wall, glad for the extra time they had since Boil could only put so much pressure on his injured ankle before it decided it didn’t want to hold weight anymore and gave out. 

“That one-“ hissed Boil, nodding towards one of the smaller transport ships. They crept to it and Waxer began scanning the access panel, only to have it click open. “Well, that was easy.” 

“We’re not out of here yet..” murmured Waxer as they climbed onto the ship. Luckily it had a torrent gun and Waxer immediately went to his post while Boil went to the cockpit. 

“She should be here by now- “ hissed Boil as he glanced out at the droids that were starting to turn towards their ship. “I thought General Kenobi said she was a reliable fighter- I Jedi should be able to get through some droids already!“ 

“Glad to know you haven’t lost your delightful personality, now scoot over.” Ahsoka pushed past him, settling into the pilot seat only to swear under her breath. “and since Droids pilot the ship they don’t need labels on anything, so I guess we get to make it up as we go…” 

“Uh, Sir, I think they’re onto us-“ Called Waxer, Ahsoka sat scowling at the control board. “Should I start firing or-“

She finally spoke and began flicking switches and typing along the unidentified keys. “Yes- fire away, we’ll be off in a minute. Boil, you might wanna have a seat I don’t know how this’ll go…Force be with us…” 

Boil was in the other seat of the cockpit in an instant, hands gripping the arms of the chair with great intensity. “Should I contact General Kenobi-“

“No.” snapped Ahsoka with a growl. “Wait till we’re off world and if that works out then you can, don’t get his hopes up when we’re still in the middle of a Separatist base.” Her expression changed in a flash as the ship lifted off the ground. “So it’s like one of those old model fighters Skyguy likes to tinker with- good to know- Waxer! We’re taking off, keep them off our tail, I think I can make the jump to the Resolute before they can get fighters after us but be ready just in case.” 

“Force be with us indeed..” muttered Boil as he sat back and watched the young Jedi navigate her way across the unfamiliar controls, but as she had said it appeared she’d figured it out and they were off the ground and gaining altitude better than he had expected. “We’ll be out of the atmosphere in no time..” 

“That’s the plan!” Ahsoka shot him a grin, before sitting back in her seat. “And the coordinates to meet up with the rest of the fleet are input and all we can do is wait. And hope Waxer’s taken care of anyone on our tail.” 

“Are we gonna have to make the jump to hyperspace?” questioned the clone with a light stroke of his mustache. 

“Nah, we shouldn’t need to.. don’t know if I’d risk it in this thing either…but hey, you could contact Master Kenobi now if you want..” She couldn’t help by laugh. “Just tell him I’m busy and can’t talk or something though.” 

“General Kenobi- Kenobi come in, this is Boil-“ 

_“Ah yes Boil, I assume this means you, Waxer, and Ahsoka have made it off the planet and are approaching our position?”_

“Yes sir, we should be approaching your position soon, but we’re in a Seppy ship so If you could avoid shooting us down that would be great.” 

_“I’ll let them know it’s you, any chance I can talk to Ahsoka while we’re in communication?”_

Boil grinned. “She told me to tell you she’s ‘busy and can’t talk’ but I thin she’d just avoiding talking to you so she doesn’t get in trouble.”    
“Traitor!” hissed Ahsoka with a huff. “After all we’ve been through-“ 

_“Good to hear from you too Padawan, now, do you want me to put Anakin on the line or do you want to wait to have that conversation when you dock and see u-“_

She leaned over and clicked off Boil’s com, and shot him a very serious look. “You two should get off the ship first so you have time to get out of the way before my masters kill me.” 

“Sounds like a plan to me.” said the clone with a shrug. “Hear that Waxer?” 

The brother in question appeared in the doorway. “Yup, get off the ship and watch the Generals kill the Commander from a distance. Sounds like a plan to me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Leave a comment and let me know what you thought!!!!


	14. Chopper

Ahsoka always considered herself very lucky. She not only had one Jedi Master teaching her along her journey as a Padawan, she had three. 

Of course she had Anakin, good old Skyguy who dealt with the majority of her training and was with her in and out of battle. He was the older brother who lived through the idea of ‘Do as I say not as I do- or do, as long as you win’. Through Anakin, she got Obi-Wan, who became a sort maternal(well- he wasn’t a woman, but he was the closest thing she had to a mother some times) figure of wisdom and calm in the raging storm that was living with Anakin Skywalker. He was witty, and always had a lesson on hand and when she wasn’t being lectured Ahsoka enjoyed her time with him, especially the tea. Her third ‘Master’ came in the shape of one Plo Koon, who she’d known for the majority of her life, He was an old friend, a surrogate father of sorts, and she kept all his lessons tucked away in her heart. She could ignore Obi-Wan, she’d certainly mastered Ignoring Anakin, but she could never really bring herself to disregard the words of her oldest friend. 

On one of her first visits to Plo’s ship he taught her an exercise that would become a nightly ritual for her for the remainder of her time in the war. He had sat her down in the beginning of the night, and he’d shown her how he took emotional ‘inventory’ of his men. “You reach in lightly with the Force, nothing invasive just enough to feel the whispers of dreams, or reality, basic emotions.” He’d said. “See if they’re awake, see if they’re stable…it’s like how we used to tuck in the younglings back at the temple, you need to make sure everyone is resting and resting well.” 

Because of this, Ahsoka found herself sitting cross legged on her floor, back straight, eyes closed, the Force swirling around her, just as she was every night at this hour. It was more a matter of opening herself up to the Force than reaching into it. 

The first wave that hit her could only be her Master. His presence always hit her first, blazing hot and almost too bright to reach out too directly, but also incredibly familiar and comforting. He was awake of course, as always, and tinkering with the mechanics in his prosthetic hand, the vibe of anxiety and annoyance seeped off of him in waves, as per usual. It seemed that as the war went on, and the more she attuned herself to her Master’s force signature, the sicker to her stomach Ahsoka felt. His irritation with nearly everything these days seemed to make her nauseous and uncomfortable, something she could never really understand. 

She moved her range of focus to Rex. His calm always worked to ease her down from the stress of Anakin. He was fast asleep, he was safe, and she could even feel the hint of joy and serenity that came with the rare pleasant dream for the Captain. She smiled to herself and moved on. 

The barracks always swirled with the feeling of life and liveliness, after hours or not. Jesse and Hardcase were awake and tittering over some magazine they’d gotten on their last leave/ Bursting to the rim with the feelings of mischief, joy, and a hint of something that just made her uncomfortable..kinda like the way Anakin got around Padme now that she considered it…but that was a thought for another time. 

Fives, was a wall of silence, Kix had put him on enough pain killers that when he was sleeping he became an unmovable log of silence in the force. He was probably fine. Echo was awake, resonating calm and openness as he read. Ahsoka guessed it was the manual on fighter-flight strategy he’d borrowed from her that morning. 

From the medbay, Corric and Kix were both very much awake and seemed to be as annoyed as her master. That familiar nauseous feeling was coming back, she assumed they were just dealing with paperwork since they had been complaining about that at dinner. She knew where she would be avoiding for a while.. 

Back in the barracks Tup, Dogma, were a pleasant surprise as they exuded the same pleasant calm as Rex, the two youngest of her men were apparently both having a well needed rest as well. 

Her final stop, as it was every night was the only bunk that would make her feel worse than when she checked in on her master. Chopper was asleep, that much was clear, but the fear, anger, pain, and pure terror that flooded her senses were in no way dulled by his lack of consciousness. Nightmares, as it was every night. She’d learned to brace herself, the first time she’d checked in on him she’d vomited and laid on her floor clutching at her head until her Master ran in to see what had caused the spike in their bond. 

Gritting her teeth, she was undeterred. Ahsoka didn’t know Chopper well, he had been transferred to their company a month or so earlier, he was standoffish, and tended to avoid her in favor of Rex. Anakin had said he was transferring under some unfortunate circumstances and by scars and a peak at his nightmares alone she could tell he’d been through some stuff. 

She’d decided that she wanted to help him. Of course, approaching him wouldn’t have ended well, that much she knew. A subtle nudge on the other hand, could work wonders. 

It wasn’t much, and she was certainly no Obi-Wan; who could sooth even Anakin’s storm, but a light murmur of peace, and a wave of calm, safe, comfort were often enough to calm his tossing and turning and keep the nightmares at bay as long as she stayed. This last week she’d spent as much time in meditation giving him peace as she had spent sleeping. She was getting better at it, and it certainly served as a training tool on the more subtle ways of the Force that her master often skipped over in favor of more ‘flashy’ or ‘inspiring’ things. Feeling his force signature calm down to match that of Rex, Tup, and Dogma was enough for her. If that wasn’t ‘inspiring’ she didn't know what was. 

Ahsoka opened her eyes, blinking languidly as the calm of being immersed in the Force slipped away from her mind. _‘now that that kids are tucked in’_ she thought with a grin. _‘I can get some food in peace.’_ She couldn’t help but chuckle at this, maybe she was spending too much time with Master Plo who was a father to each and every one of his men, but she couldn’t help but consider her men a strange but well loved company of brothers, and as the ‘older’ sister, it was her job to take care of them. 

She made her way to the mess, a skip in her step and a smile plastered on her face. Some habits were as much for her own good as the good of the Force she found. Rummaging through to grab a few protein bars and a cup of tea was no trouble, and she was content to sit alone with the hum of the lights as her only companion. 

The night thump of regulation boots against the floor drew her attention to the far side of the room. She would have expected one of the medics, or even one of the Men she’d known to be awake, but the last one she’d expected to see was the one approaching her table. “Evening Chopper, grabbing a snack?” 

She watched him tug at the ends of his sleeves, a nervous tick she’d discovered was shared by many of the clones. “Not exactly, I, came by to talk to you, Sir……” 

“Well have a seat then, no need to stand.” Ahsoka waited until he sat across from her to continue. “Now, what can I do for you?” 

“Rex said I shouldn’t worry about approaching you…said you always listened to the men, were good about taking care of them…” he was fumbling through his words a bit, not so much that he was embarrassed but more so in the way someone who was searching for the right words to use did. “What I mean to ask, Sir, is…well, are you the one changing the nightmares? It’s been nothing but kriffing nightmares since this war began, and ever sense you got out of the medbay last week they just end- is that you?”    
Ahsoka almost choked on her tea, she hadn’t expected him to notice or immediately think it was her. “Yeah, I’ve been doing what I can. It’s not like I go into your mind or anything, just send feelings through the Force… Does it bother you?” 

“Well I…I don’t know..” Chopper sighed, rubbing a hand over his shaven head. “I…No, I don’t think so… no it’s, that’s..that’s not what I came here to talk to you about, I mean…” 

She nodded, knowing the calmer she was the more at ease he would be. “Go ahead, what is it you wanted?” Ahsoka almost cringed when she realized she was using her ‘comfort the younglings’ voice. 

Chopper glanced up, locking eyes with her, not breaking eye contact this time either. “Why are you doing it? Why do you take time out of your night to deal with my nightmares?”

“You’re one of my men.” the response was easy and honest, a good place for her to begin. “I take great pride in all of the men of the 501st, and I also take responsibility for them. You’re all very important to me, and I intend to protect you guys on or off the battlefield.” 

“I’ve been here less than two months, I’ve ignored you every time you approached me for a conversation, I get helping the others- but why me? What do you get out of this?-“ there was an accusatory tone to his words that hinted at past conflicts, and Ahsoka was once again taken back to how little she knew about Chopper’s life before he joined her company. 

“Well,” She took a moment to select her words, wondering for a moment if this was what Master Obi Wan felt like dealing with Anakin when he was in one of his moods. “By taking care of my men- ALL of my men, you’ll find that the 501st is one of the most effective companies in this war. We haven’t had internal issues in over a year and a half, we have no disciplinary issues, and as overwhelmed as Coric and Kix complain about being, Torrent company has some of the lowest casualty rates. Do you know why?” 

Chopper didn’t respond, but this didn’t deter the young Jedi. “Those things happen because my Master and I make sure that we have personal bonds with every man under out leadership. They trust us, they respect us, they consider us friends. That’s what’s important. We understand what’s going on with our men, and they know when to ask for help, because they have that trust in us. Now, this is relevant, because you closed off my chances of having a bond or that level of trust, but I’m still going to treat you like any of the other men. I don’t let my men have nightmares if it interferes with their rest, and I can tell you haven’t gotten a good night’s sleep in a while, so I stepped in. I’d do it for any other man in this Company, why shouldn’t I do it for you?” 

He stared at her for a moment, sitting in silence as she took a moment to gulp down the rest of her tea. “Sir..” 

Ahsoka sighed. “Chopper, it’s the middle of the night and I’ve never been one for patience, if you want to say something feel free to say it.” 

He nodded. “Right, well uh…..thank you…” 

“No problem. Now, have you got everything off your chest?” 

He nodded slowly, and she thought she saw the hint of what might have been considered a half smile creep onto his face. Maybe. “Yeah, Yeah I think so.” 

“Good, now go get some rest because you have drill in about..” Ahsoka glanced at the clock able the door. “Three hours, and if you get hurt during drills Kix’ll make your life a living hell.” 

Chopper scoffed. “Only Shiny’s get hurt during drill, and even then only the stupid ones. You should know that.” 

Ahsoka grinned and stood. “Well, if you’re so confident then you can trade spots with Hardcase tomorrow and you can be in my squad instead of Rex’s for training, we’ll see how you keep up.” 

“Sure, whatever..” he shrugged. 

“See ya first thing tomorrow then, and be prepared to fall on your ass-“ She gave a wave and disappeared out the doors down to the officer quarters. 

He returned her nod and glanced down at the table. “She’s not like Slick….she’s not like Slick at all…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed!!!!


	15. Cody

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On the Chain of acceptable baby(Ahsoka) sitters Cody's solidly 3rd on the list (After Plo and Kenobi)

”With all due respect General, is this really necessary? I understand the Half Pint’s a handful, but if she’s in the Temple, I don’t see any reason for me to stay behind as well to watch her.” Cody could only watch as his General sighed and shook his bearded head. 

Obi-Wan instinctively stroked his beard. “At most times I would agree, but unfortunately that may not be the case in this case. I fear she may look to get me, and in turn, Anakin in trouble as ‘pay back’ for him leaving her here.” another sigh. “Just stay in my quarters and keep Ahsoka there and I don’t foresee there being any issues..” 

Cody nearly scoffed, but contented himself to shrug. “You rarely do. How long are these negotiations going to take?”    
“I should be back tomorrow evening, and Anakin will return the day after that.” His eyes crinkled in a comforting smile. “But it’s likely she’ll wait till I return to cause trouble, so I can’t imagine she would give you any trouble. If you need anything I’m only a call away.” 

“Yes sir. Of course..” the commander sighed, and watched the Jedi give a wave and walk away from him. Cody turned to the door he was standing in front of, and entered the quarters of one Jedi General Obi-Wan Kenobi. He’d been there a few times before and all was as he remembered, well, all minus the young miserable looking Togruta that was curled up on the couch. 

Ahsoka’s head lifted up slightly, and she blinked blearily at him. “Master Obi-Wan left you to babysit now?” 

Cody was taken aback at how different her voice sounded. It was soft, strained, and a bit scratchy, and her eyes never really came into direct focus on him. “It would appear so. Are you alright?” 

She blinked at him again before lowering her head back onto the couch. “Tired… I’m just tired, don’t worry about it…” this unconvincing statement was followed by a harsh cough and a soft whimper. “Owe.. be a pal and bring me a blanket?” 

He had to roll his eyes but he nodded nonetheless “Sure thing.” Grabbing one from the back of a chair he tucked it over her only to stop. “Ahsoka…” 

“Yeah?” she pulled the blanket closer to her and curled up into an even smaller ball. 

Cody pressed the back of his hand to her forehead and frowned. “Togruta are normally cooler than Humans, right?” 

A slight nod. “Mmmhmm, what are you getting at?” 

“Well then, it would appear you’ve gotten yourself sick.” 

This caught her attention. She shot up, only to pale dramatically. “Sick? There’s no way- “ Ahsoka coughed and slumped back down into the cushions. Cody simply raised a brow and waited. “Well, actually….there was some Rodian hacking up a storm at the bar we stopped in on our last mission…I guess….” 

“Mmmhmm, that would do it. Do you Jedi have med-droids or something to deal with illness?” Cody sat down on the edge of the couch, still frowning down at the shivering teen. 

“No…” 

“No?…great. “ He sighed. “Do you feel anything else, we know you’re feverish.” 

“Really cold, head hurts, joints are sore, throat’s sore, chest hurts…” She burrowed deeper into the couch. “Really cold…” 

The clone commander frowned, venturing into the linen closet to bring back a pile of blankets for the girl. Six blankets and two towels later, Cody was satisfied that she had stopped shivering, though her teeth were still chattering ever so slightly. “Holonet diagnosis it is then…” 

He grabbed a datapad that was sitting on the table, and sat down next to the pile of blankets that covered Ahsoka. His eyes narrowed as the result for his search popped up. “Well Half-Pint, looks like you’ve got some sort of flu….” 

“What does that mean?” came Ahsoka’s muffled reply, her nose now peaking out from the pile of blankets. 

“I uh…” Cody froze, staring at the data pad with a scowl. “I don’t know actually…what do you normally do when you’re sick?” 

Her reply was lost between her soft tones and the blankets muffling all semblance of diction. There was a moment of silence and then a wheezing sound and a soft snore. He sighed. “Sleep, apparently…” 

He stared at the pile of blankets and orange nose that was barely peaking out of it. He didn’t know how to handle a sick brother, let alone a sick teenage non-human Jedi…”Kriff, Calling the General it is then…” 

Moments later he was in correspondence with a frowning Kenobi. “Just fever and general aches and pains? ….Hmmm, I had assumes the muscular pain was just residual from the last mission but it would appear otherwise… Keep her hydrated and warm, she may just sweat the fever out…let her sleep, if it gets any worse contact me. Got it?” 

Cody sighed, but nodded. “Yes sir, will do. I’m sure it’ll be fine… Cody out.” the clone’s brows furrowed together and he moved the the kitchen of Kenobi’s quarters, filling up a cup with water. “That was surprisingly unhelpful…guess I just make it up as I go…” 

Returning to the couch, he sat next to Ahsoka’s nest and reached in to lightly prod her shoulder. “Time to wake up Half-Pint, you need to drink something.” she murmured slightly but only burrowed away from him into the pile of cloth. “Ahsoka. Ahsoka just drink this glass of water and you can go back to sleep.” 

Her nose disappeared and was replaced by a shaking hand, “Give it here-“ came the soft mumble. He placed the glass in her hand only for it to slip, covering pile of blankets and his leg in water. “Kriff-“ 

“It’s fine, we needed to rearrange you any I’d guess…” Cody started pealing back blankets and towels until it was Just Ahsoka wrapped tightly in a blanket that was thankfully dry. “Here, let’s prop you up.” He adjusted her so she was still curled up, but with her back tot eh back of the couch instead of on her side sinking into the cushions. He grabbed the dry blankets and decided the General’s extra robes would have to do. Four blankets and four jedi robes later Ahsoka looked content and now had the entirety of her face poking out. 

“Ok..good start, back to water…” at this point he was talking for his own benefit, it seemed as time went on Ahsoka heard, or at least comprehended less and less of what he said. Grabbing a second glass of water he returned. “Open up Half Pint, time for a drink.” She blinked a few times but gave no indication of helping him in this. Sighing, he tilted her head back with one hand, and slowly drizzled the water into her barely parted lips. She sputtered, coughing a few times but soon eased her mouth open some more so he could easily help her drink. 

There was a flash of what he thought to be recognition in her eyes and she gave him one of the most pitiful smiles he had ever seen. “-Sorrr Mas’r, din’n mean to ge- sick..” her words were slurred and he almost swore. How out of it did the kid have to be to think he was Anakin Skywalker, sure they both had the facial scars in common but the scars weren’t even in the same place, and that was just the beginning of the long list of differences. 

Brushing his hand over his forehead again he froze. “Looks like it’s time to call the General again-“ 

Cody moved to get up but Ahsoka leaned over, slumping into him. “Dun leave, please-“ 

“Sorry, but this is for your own good.” Ignoring the whimper of despair, he leaned her against the couch again and once again comm’d Kenobi. “Sir, her temperature went up..she’s hot to the touch, as in, you could start roasting a loth rat if you wanted to sort of hot..” 

A sigh was the Jedi’s immediate response. “Cody, I knew I said I would help as I could but I can’t be pulled out of negotiations until I’m finished, just…cool her down then” 

“Sir- how am I supposed to do tha- Sir?” Cody glanced at the shaking teen wrapped up on the couch. “He ended the transmission.” 

“For kriff’s sake…I am not trained for this.” He sat down next to her, pealing back the first few layers of blankets only for her teeth to start chattering. “There is no reason to feel cold you’re warmer than most stars right now- but then again you can’t control any of this….” 

“Hurts… “ whimpered Ahsoka softly. “ ’vrything hurts..” 

“Yeah I know, it’ll be alright, you’re a strong one…” He was hit with an idea and bolted out of the room to the bathroom. “Of course Kenobi would have a tub- of course! Setting the water to the coldest temperature he set the tub to running and ran tot he kitchen. Filling a large bowl up with ice he ran and dumped it into the filling tub. “This oughta work…” 

Returning to Ahsoka, he dug her out of the blankets, and lifted her up with a surprising lack of resistance. She curled up against him, apparently seeking out warmth. “Sorry Ahsoka, this isn’t going to be warm at all…” Carrything her to the bathroom he lowered her, clothes and all since at this point he wasn’t risking removing them, into the tub of cold water. 

She flinched away from it but didn’t have enough strength to put up a fight, she sat with her head resting on the edge of the tub, teeth chattering and eyes tightly shut. 

Cody coughed and sat on the bathroom floor, watching her float in the cold water. “Here’s hoping this works out like I planned…” 

They sat there in silence for what seemed like an eternity to the clone as he watched her shutter and whimper in the cold tub. He reached out to feel her forehead only to be shocked, but not pleased. “How did you get this cold this fast—-“ she certainly wasn’t hot anymore, but freezing cold. He tugged her out of the water and wrapped her up in a towel and brought her back to the couch. 

“The General should be back later…” Cody coughed again, feeling more worn out than he would have expected. Sitting down on the cough beside her he pulled the blankets and robes up around both of them, and she curled against him, still searching out the warmth. 

“S-Smells l-like home..” stuttered Ahsoka through chattering teeth. She’d pulled one of Kenobi’s robes around the top of her head and was snuggling into it. He sighed, leaning back as she laid back against his shoulder. Maybe she was fine, she didn’t feel too hot anymore, maybe a nap would do them both some good…maybe…

-

When Obi-Wan returned to his quarters there were a number of things he expected to find, none of which created him. Cody and Ahsoka were curled up on his couch, wrapped in more towels, blankets and Robes than he thought he owned. Cody was wheezing as he slept and Ahsoka was shaking violently as she snuggled against the clone. 

The Jedi approached the pair and extended a hand to gently shake his Commander’s shoulder. “Cody, Cody you need to wake up.” 

The Clone blinked a few times and lifted his head to questioningly look at Obi-Wan. “Sir? Her Fever broke, we were just sleeping it off…” 

Extending a hand to first Ahsoka’s forehead then Cody’s Obi-Wan had to surpass a chuckle. “Unfortunately wrong, but I believe you picked up her fever, which would explain why you can’t tell she’s still burning up.”    
The clone groaned, leaning his head back. “Kriff…of course…that explains it…” 

“Indeed it does.” laughed Kenobi with a smile. He tousled the clone’s hair and gave Ahsoka’s cheek an affectionate pat. “Now, mind explaining why you didn’t go down to the Halls of healing?” 

Cody groaned again. “She said Jedi didn’t have medbots…” 

Obi-Wan could only laugh as he went to his bathroom. “Also, there’s medicine for fevers in the medicine cabinet..” he heard a third groan and smiled to himself as he brought the medicine back out to the miserable pair on the couch. Measuring out a dose he handed it to Cody who tossed it back with a slight gag as he gently pried Ahsoka’s jaw open and fed her the dose. 

Cody frowned. “Was that really all it took?” 

“And a few hours of sleep, which I suggest you get.” there was Mirth to the Jedi’s voice. “Don’t worry, I’ll keep watch.” Obi-Wan sat down on the other side of Ahsoka, who instantly abandoned Cody’s shoulder to curl up against her Grandmaster’s side. 

“Could have just told me this in the beginning…” murmured Cody as he leaned into the couch. “woulda been easier for everyone….” 

“You’re welcome Cody.” replied Obi-Wan with a smirk and a laugh. “You’re quite welcome.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one was just fun! Because what kind of group of one shots would it be without a sick fic???


	16. Gregor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Because Gregor knows a thing or two about lapses in memory, and Mortis has left Ahsoka a little disconcerted.

Rex sighed, rubbing the back of his neck as he spoke. ”I don’t know…I was ranting, not asking you to try to find a solution…” 

“Well, whether you asked for it or not, I’m offering. And this is an offer you’re not refusing.” Cody patted his brother’s shoulder. “If our companies are already together, then it’s no trouble for anyone. Gregor already said it wouldn’t be a problem.” 

“She’s not gonna like this…neither is Skywalker for that matter…. actually, the General will probably be the main problem…He’s been very..touchy about the whole situation.” the captain shot a glance over his shoulder, glancing around as if the Jedi were about to walk up behind him. 

Cody shrugged. “Kenobi’s not to keen on the situation either, but they don’t have to get involved….they obviously don’t want to either if they aren’t willing to just Jedi-magic the situation better…” 

“I don’t think it works like that-“ Rex was cut off by his brother. 

“Kenobi said that he and Skywalker agreed it would be best for her not to remember. If they wanted her to know whatever happened, she would know. Trust me Rex, if they chose to they could just restore that chunk of memory. They’re choosing not to, and they’re ignoring the fact that it’s interfering with her completing her duties.” Cody looked troubled, his frown reflecting how Rex felt on the inside, a bit concerned, a bit angry, a lot concerned. “Whatever happened, they know what it was, and she doesn’t, and it’s likely she knows that.” 

Rex sighed, running a hand through his buzzed hair. “Do you think this’ll help? If not we just get all three of them losing trust in us..” 

“It’s all we can do. She’s not sleeping, not eating, takes more risk with her life than Skywalker, and won’t let you or your men help. Rex, she’s been here less than three days and even my men are starting to notice something’s off.” 

Another sigh. “You said Gregor already agreed to talk to her?” 

Cody nodded. “Yeah, he agreed before I could even finish explaining. Her reputation among the men procedes her…”

“Do you have a place they can talk? She’s rooming with Skywalker and I….” Rex sighed, was that the fourth or fifth time in the last fife minutes? “…..and the General hasn’t left our quarters in a few hours and makes no move to..I get the feeling this isn’t a conversation that they can have in a quiet corner of the mess…” 

“My office is open empty and I sent out a strict order for all men to bring their issues straight to me in the mess. Also, I think Kenobi said something about visiting Skywalker, so they should both be out of the way as well….I know it’s not ideal, but it should work..” 

“I’ll send her that way then…I hope this helps Cody, you have no idea how much I hope this helps…” Rex gave his brother a nod headed off to go look for his tiny and slightly disturbed Commander. 

Hopefully she was just a com call away, that would be helpful. Following his hopes, he contacted her private channel. “Little’Un, are you around? I need a favor..” 

It took a few minutes to get a response but her voice came through just before he gave up and went to search her out. _“I’m here Rex, what do you need?”_

“Meet me outside Cody’s office, I’ll see you in a few minutes.” 

_“Alright, I’ll be right there.”_

Rex sighed, he’d stopped counting at this point, he was sighing a lot these days. By the time he made it to the door of Cody’s office, Ahsoka was already leaning against the wall. He frowned at her slouched posture and the yawn that she tried to hide. “Good morning to you too.” 

“It’s a few hours from curfew…nowhere near morning Rex.” She shot him a smile and that soothed his nerves a bit. “What do you need?” 

“One of Cody’s guys, Gregor, wanted to talk to you. He was the one who was MIA and out with amnesia for a while.. Cody and I…we thought it’d be good for you two to talk..” he waited for her response and unworldly swore as she deflated. 

She crossed her arms over her chest. “..Why exactly did you think I should talk to him?” 

“Look Ahsoka, whatever happened on your way to the meet up point- Mortis or whatever it was, you’ve been off. The Generals refuse to address it, they’ve been ignoring it actually, so Cody and I took prerogative and this is what we’re doing to help you help us.” Rex watched her sigh, something he barely stopped himself from doing. 

“….You really want me to talk to him, don’t you?” 

“Yeah, I do.” he laid a hand on her shoulder, and gave it a soft squeeze. “If it doesn’t help, it doesn’t help. But let him try…” 

She nodded. “Alright, he’s in Cody’s office, right?” 

Rex returned her nod. “As far as I know…” 

Ahsoka gave a final nod before entering the office. Gregor was sitting in a chair, and he looked up as soon as the door opened. She sat down on the chair that had been moved next to the one the clone was sitting in. 

“Hey there Commander, or, is that too formal? Whatever you’re comfortable with.” His smile was warm and he spoke as openly as Fives or Hardcase. Ahsoka liked that about him instantly. 

“Ahsoka, just call me Ahsoka. You’re Gregor, right?” 

He nodded. “That’s me. I understand this is probably uncomfortable, but Cody said talking to me might help you out, and after he told me what he knew, I couldn’t agree fast enough.” 

She only nodded, pulling her feet up under her. 

“Cody was really broad when he told me what happened, if you could tell me about what happened, it’d be a real help. For both of us.” 

She wanted to refuse, to tell him to go read the report that was classified and probably as censored as anything she’d been told, or told anyone. But again, it was that warm almost paternal smile that broke her resolve. “Alright…just, I know it’s going to sound crazy, or impossible, none of it makes sense to me and I was there…so, bear with me and just, wait until I’m done….” 

“I’ve heard some crazy things in this war, whenever you’re ready Ahsoka, go ahead.” 

She reached up and began fidgeting with her strand of padawan beads as she started recounting her tail. Even as she spoke of Mortis it seemed to transport her back. The crash, the etherial presences of the Daughter, the Storm, the Son, the cave- the vision, everything went flashing by and she only hoped that her mouth kept up with the images flashing in front of her eyes because it seemed like only an instant had passed and she was telling him about how she blacked out. “The thing let me down from the binding, and grabbed my arm and bit me, everything hurt and spread out from the bite and then I blacked out. I have a complete gap until I woke up, in an incredible amount of pain with Anakin hugging me.. which, is weird enough in itself… “ 

Gregor nodded. “So, you’re sure you were awake for that time. Is it possible you just remained out?” 

She shook her head. “No, they would have told me if I had just been unconcious for all of that, the thing is- they avoid it! They won't tell me what happened at all and sometimes I’ll say things or we’ll try an spar and Anakin freezes up and runs off- they even made me leave the council room when they got to that part. _They asked me to leave-_ and then made me come back in as they got to the part where I woke up.” 

“They really don’t want you to know what happened, do they…” He gave her a glance that seemed to stare through her very being as he weighed his options. “Is that what’s bothering you, that they won’t tell you?” 

“Bothering me? Of course it’s bothering me- what could possibly happen that both they and the council don’t want me to know?!” Ahsoka stopped. “That isn’t what you meant by bothering…is it?” 

Gregor chuckled softly. “You catch on fast. Anyway, is that why you haven’t been sleeping? Haven’t eaten? Taking risks like that?” 

“I guess not..” murmured the Togruta with a sigh. She pulled her knees up to her chest and managed to take up a surprisingly small amount of space in the chair. “It’s hard to explain-“

“The last time you said that,” spoke the clone with a reassuring smile. “You told me a story worthy of a holorecording. Just try.” 

“Well, I don’t remember anything. There are no images or sounds…I have no idea what happened, but sometimes if I think about it I…I think I can _feel_ things…” her finger tips dug into her knees as she furrowed her brow in thought. “It’s always freezing, colder than I’ve ever been..and it’s like there’s fire flowing in my veins instead of blood… I’m on fire and freezing at the same time….” 

“Since I figured things, I’ve done some research into memory loss.. apparently remembering sensations is more common than you’d expect, it’s a good place to start remembering, from here-“ 

“I don’t care if I remember.” Ahsoka cut him off abruptly. “Master and Obi-Wan don’t want me to- and that’s fine, the problem is I can feel that spark of- …of whatever it is- I still have it! And I can’t reach it and it’s whispering to me-“ 

Gregor paled. “You’re starting to lose me, but keep going and I’ll see if I can get back on this path you’re taking.” 

“Not words- but I get a whiff of that power- that icy-fire and it’s like nothing matters but getting back to that state where I’m burning up and in pain but full of- _life_ \- I don’t know…I’m not hungry anymore, food’s not appetizing- I go to eat and it’s a reminder that I’m just _me_. I try to sleep and I end up tracing the patterns of my veins looking for the source of whatever it is and I can’t handle it-“ 

He grabbed her wrist and Ahsoka’s head shot up to look at him. He pried her hand away from her leg and she noticed that her nails had dug through her leggings and into her skin. “I have no idea what to tell you, whenever I was out of it, I just lost the memories, you…it’s hard to say what you missed.” 

“I shouldn’t want to find it again.” her tone was clipped. “It’s not a good sort of feeling.” 

Gregor raised a brow. “But you said it was good, that’s why you wanted to find the spark or whatever?” 

“No it’s good it’s just not good. It’s like sneaking out after curfew or when you’re trapped between a rock and a hard place and you kill someone who you know is a bad person- It’s good but it’s wrong…” She sighed, moving back to fidget with the strand of beads on her headdress. “I think that’s why they don’t want me to remember, because…it’s bad, whatever it is…and if I know what it is I’ll seek it out and do more bad with it…” 

“That makes sense…” he laid a hand on her shoulder, and she jumped slightly only to relax. “Knowing that, do you want to remember?” 

“I don’t know..” it was a mumbled response. Heisted and unsure, rushed even as she glanced away from him. “If it’s bad they should trust me not to search it out- and if it was on Mortis than there’s no way to find it again, but if they told me I don’t know if I could move on or if I’d spend my life searching…” 

“Any reason you didn’t just tell the Generals all this? I’m sure they would understand more, and talking about things is helpful. More so since they were there.” 

Ahsoka pouted now. “They don’t like to talk about it. They wouldn’t understand anyway, I just…they’d think I’m silly and tell me to meditate or something…” 

Gregor nearly laughed. “From what I’ve heard, if there’s someone who knows about an unexplainable fire in his veins, it’s General Skywalker. And Kenobi is nothing but patient and accepting, even if he doesn’t understand.”

“I guess..” she was murmuring again, soft, unsure. “Did you miss things? When you couldn’t remember who you were, did something feel missing?” 

“There was so much missing that that sense of emptiness became the foundation of who I was. There was next to nothing left, so I just rebuilt… I didn’t do a good job, but I made it work, how I wasn’t noticed and picked off I have no idea really..” He smiled. “We have some very different experiences as you’ve probably noticed. I had nothing, you had a gap..strange how things work really.” 

“Yeah…but what did you do? How do you move on from nothing?” Ahsoka had turned in her chair to face him, eyes wide and waiting. 

“I just existed.” Gregor’s smile melted into something more melancholy. “I just tried to-“

“ _Fill the space._ ” Ahsoka whisper the words as he spoke them, and he nodded.

“Exactly. You’re doing the same thing…you’re filling the space with fire in your veins and ice in your soul, and a forbidden fruit that you can’t decide if you want or not.” his smile returned and he gave a laugh. “I’m fairly sure this was not what Captain Rex, and Cody, had in mind when they wanted us to talk.” 

“It’s not their problem, who are they to say exactly how we work through it?” Ahsoka gave a small smile. “Besides, they really wouldn’t understand…you might not get all of it, but you get it…it’s nice…” 

“That’s what I’m here for.” said Gregor with a wink. “Getting it but not getting it all at the same time, it’s a trained skill.” 

She laughed, but soon trailed off, looking at the ground again. “This has been good, and actually good not the _good_ … but I don’t think it’ll change anything…” 

“Why’s that?” he watched her begin to pop her knuckles, which would have been mistaken for just wringing her hands had there not been a resounding pop with each movement. 

“I’m still not interested in food and even if I want to sleep I can’t-“ 

“You filled the gap wrong.” declared Gregor. “You created this fire and now you need to funnel it out of the gap. If you empty the gap, you can come talk to me again and we can figure out what to do with nothing, but first you’ve got to channel that fire.” 

“Channel the fire? But I already told you- I can’t find it!” Ahsoka sounded more confused than frustrated now. 

“It’s there, feelings like that don’t just go away. I don’t know how this whole Jedi thing works, but try Meditation, try training, try just yelling into the emptiness of space and listening to it reverberate around the ship- try anything you can think of and there’s got to be something that can channel your fire. Get it out of your veins and out of the gap, and then I…or your Master, can help you fill the gap in a way that won’t eat at you from the inside out like some virus.” Ahsoka blinked at him, and he froze when he saw that her eyes were glistening with unshed tears. “I’m sorry, did I upset you- I didn’t me-“

She threw her arms around his neck, pulling him in for a tight hug. He could feel her cry into his shoulder. They sat there for a few minutes, not saying anything. Eventually she sat back, wiping her eyes. She didn’t look sad, or upset, she was smiling. 

“Thank you. This was what I needed…I don’t know how you knew, but you just knew what to say and now I know- and I can get over this and go back to making Master proud and not worrying Rex-“ 

“Ahsoka,” the twinkle in Gregor’s eye was back in full force. “You’re always going to worry Rex, be honest with yourself.” 

“Well yeah, but you know. Just, thank you.” She stood and gave him another hug. “The 501st ship out tomorrow to go back to the Resolute, and I don’t know how long this is all gonna take…but when I get this sorted out I’m coming to find you no matter what. I promise. Promise you’ll help when I get back?” 

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and grinned, and Ahsoka was sure his grin was brighter than any imaginary fire under her skin. “I swear, I’ll be right her whenever you need me. Now get out of here, I don’t wanna be late for lights out.” 

She nodded, giving him a final hug before sprinting out of the room at full speed. Cody peaked in, brow raised in question. 

Gregor only laughed. “Best tell the Rex to stay out of her way, that girl’s got a fire to tame and I get the feeling the Seppies will make for a fine funnel.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you all didn't know, the Mortis arc is my favorite arc of all of clone wars, so theres no way I wasn't fitting it in some how. I loves me some mortis. Anyway, I hope you enjoy and my plan is to update all the way to what I have currently written so you'll be up to date and deal with real time updates after tonight! So spam for today and then spastic and unreliable!


	17. Kix (2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Medic's Intuition" may or may not be an actual thing. Also cue costume change.

Rumor had it that Medics always knew everything before anyone else on the ship. Vet’s would clap young troopers on the shoulder and say, “Listen, there isn’t a thing you can tell a medic they don’t already know.” And while there had been question if Medic’s just got more knowledge in their flash training, that rumor was dispersed. It wasn’t taught, it was just a widely known sort of sixth sense that they had(or that was the explanation the other troopers had come up with). 

The most recent case of ‘All-knowing Medic Syndrome’ occurred when their resident Commander went through an outfit change. 

“Wait wait wait- Kix don’t play me like this, you can’t honestly tell me you aren’t surprised by this.” Jesse was genuinely distressed by his brother’s calm demeanor. “Jedi don’t just change uniforms- not without some notice or reason or set off-“ 

Hardcase nodded in agreement. “He’s right, they’re more rooted in tradition and routine than we are, this is a big deal- why aren’t you freaking out more? Even Rex freaked for a few minutes! You didn’t even bat an eye-“

“Well, it’s no big deal really…” Kix shrugged. “I mean, it wasn’t that much of a surprise…” He’d hoped he could avoid the subject, sometimes it was just exhausting to be partially all knowing. “Kid’s at that age, she probably just needed to change things up a bit.” 

“I guess.. just makes me feel old…” muttered Hardcase. His two brothers had to nod at this, if their was one thing their commander was good at it was making them feel ancient. “…. _Kix_ , You knew she was changing uniforms, didn’t you?” 

Kix shrugged. “Kid’s a real wildcard, who can say what she’s gonna do. Now if you’re done interrogating me, I’ve got some work to finish up.” He didn’t wait for a reply before he found refuge in the med bay. 

-  
 _Several Days Earlier_  
-

Kix hadn’t expected a com call from Ahsoka, in fact the General had explicitly said that none of them would have contact with her and the three men who had been sent with her for close to 8 hours while they were out on a scouting mission. 

“Kid, what’s the news?” 

_“Is patient confidentiality a thing with medics?”_

This caught him off guard, and the rasp in her voice was drawing concerned..it wasn’t a collapsed lung sort of rasp, that would mean more gasping, this had a decisively more labored tone to it wich would infer a-

_“Kix! This is sort of important-“_

“Uh…yes..? Kid why is this-“

She cut him off again. _“Our transport is docking know I’ll see you in five or less..Tano out.”_

Kix decided whatever was wrong it wasn’t gonna be a ‘slap a batch patch on it’ type thing. Luckily Coric had already retired for the night so he wouldn’t have to explain why he was pulling out a surgical table and prepping like he was expecting to be sewing a limb back on…he honestly didn’t know what to expect, right now he was just hoping The Commander didn’t follow in her Master’s footsteps and decide to lose a limb..he hated lost limbs. 

Right on cue the med doors slid open revealing a very haggard looking Ahsoka who had her arms clutched viselike over her stomach. “S-sorry for the short notice Kix..things took a turn…” She leaned against the edge of the nearest shelf, eyes pinching shut and a noticeable wince of pain flashing across her face. 

“Stomach wound?” the medic went over to meet her, leading her over to the table he’d arranged, in the end it was easier for him to just lift her onto the table. “What’s the deal, blaster shot, internal damage-“ He’d moved her arms away and stopped mid sentence as he saw the wound in question. “Is that a _lightsaber_ hit?”

She winced again. “…Maybe…” She looked sheepish for a moment and then scowled. “Look just patch me up and we can both go-“

“I’m gonna need some explanation actually, and I’m sure the General would also like to know why exactly you got run through with a lightsaber?” 

“Look we can talk AFTER I’m sewn up-“ Hissed Ahsoka. “This isn’t exactly comfortable-“

Kix sighed but decided that it would be in the best interest to make sure she didn’t die before he got the story out of her. It..well, it was actually the only option where he got to hear the story so it was both the best and only logical course of action to follow. “It’s a straight cut all the way through…Kid I can see my table through your torso- It’s too low to hit a Kidney…too low for Liver, wait no, Togruta’s livers are smaller and more to the left which still keeps it out of the way, but that means it probably punctured a hole in the stomach which means we’ve got one hell of a problem-“

“Less analyzing more fixing! please-“ 

“Analyzing is necessary in the fixing problem, so if you could stop and maybe explain the situation that would be ideal.” He paused to shoot her a sympathetic look. “Also, I need to sew the edged of your stomach lining back together which is going to be incredibly unpleasant so if I were you I’d start talking to distract yourself real fast.” 

“Promise me something first-“ Ahsoka grabbed his wrist. “Kix I need you to promise me-“

“I’ll see what I can do.” He oh so delicately jerked his arm out of her orange death grip and started looking through the tin of needles. 

“Don’t tell Anakin. Patient confidentiality- he doesn’t need to know I was even here, the guys I went with all came back without a scratch- if he finds out he’ll never let me lead another mission on my own for who knows how long-“

“I understand…don’t worry, as long as you plan to explain a bit I can keep this our little secret. Slight pinch here.” 

She hissed. “Kriff’s sake Kix, I thought you said ‘slight pinch’ not ‘let me shove my hand inside your open wound and stab you as hard as I can-“ 

He shrugged, more focussed on the work at hand. “I’m actually fairly surprised you can still feel anything in the immediate area of the wound, I would have thought the nerve endings would have been fried…also I hope you know I’m a field medic, not a surgeon, this isn’t gonna be pleasant. How about you lighten the mood and explain how you got us to this fun situation.” 

“Went with Tup, Echo, and Fives, scouted the planet. Ran into Ventress, she got lucky, we got information, we left.” Her knuckles were clutched white against the edge of the table, eyes tightly shut. 

“I’d say you got lucky in this case…barely nicked your stomach, so the main problem will be the damage to the muscles and tissue…nothing a good set of stitches and some batch can’t find in the long run, but you are going to have a very sore, very unpleasant week of no solid food.” He gave a last tug on the thin tissue replacement he was using for the sutures and broke off the needle. “You’re gonna need a tissue graft to avoid major scarring, that’ll take ten maybe twelve hours to prepare,and Coric’ll have to sign off on the-“

“Scarring is fine- we have maybe an hour tops before Anakin rushes in here, I’ll live with it!”

He raised a brow in question. “It’s not exactly gonna be a little thing, that much space brought together’s gonna leave some major surgical and tissue scarring…and no offense Kid, but you don’t exactly hide the area much.” 

“You do supply orders, right? I’ll just put in an order for some knew clothes that cover the area, I’ve needed an excuse to change it up anyway…just get on with it, I’m really tired of seeing spots.” 

Not one to argue with anyone who was that prepared to go the lengths she was taking, he began stitching up the outer wound, using a bacta soaked rag to rub away the charred skin along the edges of the wound. “It’s gonna be a matching scar on the back, but at this point that probably doesn’t matter to you….” Soon he had the front set of stitches bacta’d and bandaged, and she rolled over, only swearing for about a minute as he did a matching job to the exit wound. 

Finally he put his gloves aside and helped her to her feet. “Now your job is to keep from popping any of these, and no solid food until we go groundside. As long as you don’t come back here with a sprung stitch, then I don’t tell the General. Deal?”    
She nodded, running her hand over the heavily bandaged wound. “Deal….now about those supply orders…I’m thinking something a little darker, covers a bit more-“

“Kid we can discuss your knew fashion choices in the morning, I’m going to bed and you should to. The more you sleep the more healing you’re gonna do- just try not to toss around too much don’t wanna-“

“Don’t wanna pop a stitch. I know. Thanks Kix, see you in the morning!” she sped off and he could only shake his head. 

“You know for someone who just got made into a Togrutan-doughnut she has got far too much spring in her step….Kriff’s sake, Kid’s gonna be the death of me….”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you've enjoyed it!!! Review and let me know what you think!!11!


	18. Echo (2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Running into old friends isn't a common occurrence in these times

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Set post order 66, pre Rebels. Enjoy!

One doesn’t expect to run into old friends when searching through an abandoned Republic base, in fact Ahsoka hadn’t expected to run into anyone. Friends, enemies, strangers, she’d assumed the abandoned base would be… well _abandoned._

It had certainly appeared that way, the doors already rusting over even though the stronghold had only been retired for a little over a year. She’d visited there once before, back in The Clone Wars…back when things were different. They hadn’t spent long on Atrivis, long enough to see the beginnings of the base. A base that now stood large and looming, empty and closed off to the galaxy. And while it wasn’t exactly inviting, it was exactly what she wanted and needed to find. 

The Empire didn’t care about the old bases, especially one on _Atrivis_ of all places. She figured an old base would be her best access point to try an figure out what exactly was going on in the galaxy because frankly she’d been living in a state of confusion for about a year now and it was time she found some answers. What happened to the Jedi? The Clones? The Government system as whole- who was even ruling? It was hard for her to get reliable information at this point without putting herself out into the system as a blip to be eliminated. 

And so here she was, avoiding the ‘blip’ situation as she forced open the door leading to the control room of the base. She dragged the generator she’d traded her headdress for behind her, cursing the fool who still kept the old age bulky generators she was stuck with. Luckily she had no problems connecting it with the computer system and with a few input codes and a swift kick to the engine, the room hummed to life. 

“Here’s hoping no desk officer gets a notification that their systems are online…though if it’s a separate power source than it may not even register..it’s not like I just flipped on the breaker or something…” the Togrutan took a quick survey of the room around her, it looked pretty standard, way too many computers and empty chairs, the desks of people who wasted away at the outpost, all what she was used to-

Except for a corner of the room that was curtained off. That would be categorized as ‘unusual’, ‘out of the ordinary’ and ‘non-regulation’ in Ahsoka’s book. 

“What in the hell…” no longer being able to rely upon the comfortable hum of a lightsaber that had protected her through her early teen years, she clutched the vibroblade she kept in her boot and approached the curtain. Pulling it aside she wasn’t sure if she wanted to swear, vomit, cry, or run out as fast as she could. 

It _appeared_ to have once been a clone. Maybe still was, the life status of the…situation… was one she wasn’t sure on. Cords and cables kept the figure attached to the computer wall, the person’s arm was- well, not arm so to say, the right arm was missing, replaced with some socket or input station that was connecting them directly to the system. 

The figure had as much machine on them as they did gaunt sickly flesh and for both her sake and theirs Ahsoka really hoped they were just dead-

“Oh for kriff’s sake!!!-“ she jumped back putting a good amount of space between her and the figure as they blinked at her. Biting her lip she watched as their eyes blinked open before fluttering shut, only to be seemingly forced open again. “…of course, turn on the power…turn on the person, that…make sense…I guess…sure…”

The access screen nearest the figure lit up and codes and numbers flitted across the screen. She couldn’t make sense of what they were, but the pattern and progression looked like searches, it appeared like the figure was doing what Ahsoka planned to. Gather information and figure out what was going on. 

She settled cross legged on the floor in front of the person, who for now seemed content to (or she assumed) syphon information from the computer system and blink at her. Like all life systems the figure registered in the Force, the faint wall-like signature was even one she could easily attribute to a clone, she’d certainly gotten to know their type well enough. Something was eating at her though, the longer she maintained eye contact the more she felt like there was something more familiar than just another clone. “Hmmm…just who are you….” She really should have been prepared for a reply, and yet her she was taken off guard yet again- she was sensing a theme here. 

“CT….1..4..0..9..” 

Narrowing her eyes she racked her brain for a name to match the number. “Kriff’s sake I was never good with the numbers…uh, do you have a name you go by uh..trooper?” She hadn’t been this uncomfortable in a long time, hadn’t interacted with a clone in quite some time either.

There was a pause, as the clone seemed to have to think about this. “Echo..Commander, it’s Echo.” 

….Echo…

….a clone by the name of Echo….

….a clone by the name of Echo who called her ‘Commander’…..

He could have jumped out from the wall and stabbed her in the throat and it would have hurt less. Unfortunately he didn’t, he remained firmly rooted and just stared at her expectantly and she’d be damned if she didn’t recognize him as soon as he’d said his name.

This wasn’t real. This was some Sith manipulation- some nightmare- she was dreaming- she was hallucinating- drugged- concussed out of her mind- something was wrong because she watched Echo die in the Citadel, and had been with Rex as he entered his name onto the list of losses for that mission and if it didn’t still sting she’d be damned to the lowest level of Hutt-Hell and yet here was some mockery of a memory claiming to be _one of her men._

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost Commander….no need to look so severe, I don’t know about you, but it’s good to see a familiar face…” Echo straightened up ever so slightly, wincing before yanking his arm- not arm- access port that replaced his arm, out of the system. 

A few forced slow intakes of breath later and Ahsoka trusted herself to speak. “You could say that…both the ghost and the familiar face…no offense, but this is some hell of a surprise..” 

If anything sold that it was in fact the Echo she knew and served with it was the small smile that fell across his features as he apologized. “Sorry about that Commander, though I can’t really say I was expecting to see you either..well, to be honest Sir, I wasn’t excepting to see much of anything..well, ever again really..” 

“Drop the ‘Commander’ and the ‘sir’ Echo, The GAR’s a dead notion, and I..well..left due to unfortunate circumstances some time before that…just ‘Ahsoka’s fine..” A flash of concern fell over her face. “Are you in pain?” 

“Excuse me?” the confusion was clear on the clone’s face. 

“I mean…you don’t exactly look comfortable strung up like that….if we uh..un..unplugged you..would you be better like that? Would that even work- I mean, I don’t mean to be ignorant but this whole situation is sort of a whole new level of…confusing…and concerning honestly…” 

“I should be fine ‘unplugged’ as you put it.. and I do believe that would be more comfortable…if it’s not too much trouble Sir- sorry, Ahsoka…” 

“It’s no trouble, I’ll get you down, and you can fill me in on what exactly you’re doing here….deal?” 

“Sounds good to me..though I have to warn you it’s quite a story..” He shifted again, once again revealing how uncomfortable he was. 

“Well I can’t imagine this is gonna be a simple task, so you get talking and I’ll get working.” 

A nod from Echo and she began examining the different access ports and cables that connected the trooper to the room. 

“After the Citadel, I hadn’t expected to be around…I just figured that was the end of things, but turns out the Separatists figured they could get some use out of me because they decided it was worth the trouble to piece me together…as you can tell they took some liberties with the missing pieces.. that was still back when the war was going on, and they had me feeding codes and protocols into their system…just their luck it was me, they were able to feed any code they needed out and into their computers…after a few days they put me in a stasis chamber and Captain Rex and the General found me some time after, they were with a group of clones that had been some kinda of test group for the Kaminoans..” 

“Test group?” by this point Ahsoka had about half the cable keeping him strung up disconnected, and she was working on the main cables that were holding him so uncomfortably up against the wall. 

“Yeah, a group of clones with certain modifications that the GAR was testing out to see if they could build a team of higher functioning clones to try an bring the war to an end sooner…didn’t work out that way, then again if it had you probably would have heard of us- them, you know..I digress. Long story short Rex and the General swoop in, save the day, disaster is avoided and the Republic is saved and we don’t loose the war…well, don’t loose as soon, lose is a difficult term to place on all this….” His arms now freed he was beginning fidget. “I really hope I’m not rambling- if at any point you want me to stop just ask, really..” 

“You’re completely fine Echo, if I had a problem with it, I would have said it. Now, Republic is saved- great, how’d you end up here then?” Ahsoka was disconnecting the last of the cables. “And why didn’t they put you in a stasis chamber this time around? They just..left you here?” 

“It takes a bit to get to me being left here, but essentially…yes. First, could you get one of those chairs, It’s time for a change of position if you don’t mind too terribly much….” 

“Of course-“ she rushed and grabbed the nearest desk chair, bringing it over just in time for Echo to slump into it. “There you are.” 

“Thank you..back to the story..” Echo smiled, more widely than he had in the few minutes he’d been awake so far. Ahsoka sat cross legged in front of him again, waiting for him to continue. “Rex, the General, the whole 501st were all greatly rewarded..heh, I was promoted to ‘corporal’ if you’d believe that…” 

Ahsoka scoffed, giving him a look that clearly said ‘you’ve got to be kidding me’. “I always that you deserved a promotion, you would have made a great Captain, let alone Corporal..you deserve that much.” 

“Uh, well..thank you, but I certainly didn’t do much to earn it at the time…after that I can’t say I was too much use. They transferred me around from desk jobs or data positions..I taught at Tipoca City for a few weeks…that was the most enjoyable..soon after that things started to fall apart, or seemed to…I got transferred out here on a data analysis job..couldn’t’a been a week or so later and Order 66 went through.. not that it mattered much out here, no Jedi for miles..” 

“Order 66- what’s that? What does that have to do with Jedi?” Leaning forward slightly she couldn’t help but to sit on her hands to keep from rolling or cracking her knuckles as an outlet for the energy she was feeling in the moment. This was the kind of information she’d come here for, and if she could get an old friend to tell her as apposed to searching through old military reports than all the better. 

“It was an order we weren’t supposed to use. It was a back up protocol, in the end of the manual, to be used only in the extreme case that the Jedi turned against the Republic and became a threat to the cause…” he watched her carefully as he spoke, and she seemed to take it fairly well, only nodding for him to continue. “Well, the order went out, and it wasn’t like some normal order, all other brothers seemed to click into this weird mindset, they weren’t themselves…turns out they implanted us all with a chip that would…ensure we followed through. Mine was damaged with the rest of me, so.. no primal need to kill my superiors…shortly after most clones were transferred out of here, then it was just me and the janitorial staff..one day the came in with a notice that this base was to be shut down and I was labeled as part of the equipment…so they hooked me up and turned the whole place off…that’s when you came along…” 

Ahsoka leaned against the terminal next to her, arms coming forward to hold her knees to her chest. “So it was an order..something they couldn’t control… Do you know why the order went through? How high up the chain did it come from?” 

“It came directly from the Chancellor..well, Emperor now…Palpatine sent out the order. To my knowledge it was his way of making his final claim of power..the Jedi were the only real power against him…” Echo watched his former Commander, concern clear on his face. “Are you alright?” 

She sighed. “Yes..no, well, I need some time to adjust to this… it, it uh.. it explains a lot actually…” she paused for a moment thinking over her words. “I felt it happen ya know…everyone just..dying…I shut myself off after I felt Plo-…after I stopped feeling the bond, I holed up in a hotel and shut myself off for two weeks…kriff I have no idea what happened to anyone..I don’t even know what happened to Anakin…” 

“I’m sorry…I wish I knew more, but really…I’ve been as off the grid as you…” 

“No…it’s fine, you’re fine.. I honestly expected as much.. so..what do you think you’re gonna do now? Where does Corporal Echo of the 501st go from here?” Ahsoka straightened up, flashing a half hearted smile. 

He shrugged. “I’m not sure…you have any ideas? Otherwise I might just hole up here for a few more months, see how things go…” 

“Well, that could work actually… you stay here, make it a good base, tighten up security get the medical bay online, I can start bringing you supplies…we could make it a new base- and if you ran into any brothers, guys like you- that needed a place to lay low…they could do that here. I can stop in between odd jobs, get more supplies, I can even leave you this piece of bantha-dung to keep any systems you need online until you get the main generator running..” 

“So what, we just start a base here and look for brothers not loyal to the Emperor?” Echo was standing now, already frantically typing access codes into the main terminal.

“Is that what you want?” Ahsoka pulled herself to her feet, a real smile in place. 

He nodded. “Yeah, yeah I think that’s a good place to start. When can I expect the first load of supplies.” 

“Well Corporal, now that I know where to contact you, let’s just say you’re awaiting orders… I have a transport job over to Naboo that should take a few months, but it’ll be a good pay load…enough to get a decent generator or some medical supplies, you just tell me what you need.” 

“This is gonna be it, isn’t it…it’s our turning point to get the 501st back into action, fighting the fight we never got to finish, eh Commander?” 

“Turning point? Nah, the 501 never really left, we just….had to take a break…this is..this is like our fulcrum back into action, our pivot point to get back into the game.” 

“Heh, ‘fulcrum’ I like that…someone aught’ta use that as a code some time…” Echo chuckled and Ahsoka couldn’t help but laugh along with him. 

“We’ll see, hey, maybe that’s what I contact you as. ‘Echo this is Fulcrum, open the hanger bay and have a cup of caff ready when I get there’” the pair laughed again, the sound resounding through the empty halls. 

“Yeah right…no offense, but I don’t think I could take you seriously if you started using a code name. It’s not really your style.” 

Ahsoka grinned. “Who knows Echo, maybe it’s time I switch things up a bit.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You'll notice that I'm now repeating clones, basically I've run through most all the named ones I can come up with and I'll be taking suggestions and repeating them as I want now! Coolio! Hope you enjoyed, there'll be one more chapter to post before this is updated to 'live updates only'


	19. Rex (2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rex deserves 3 lifetimes paid vacation leave..but that's not gonna happen anytime soon.

"When I told you I wanted to see you taking on more responsibility, this wasn't what I had in mind..." Rex sighed, "Care filling me in as to just exactly why exactly you're here and Skywalker isn't?"

Ahsoka looked more anxious than he'd seen her in a while. "Yeah.. well uh, the council decided Anakin needed some time to .... focus....his thoughts, so he was sent on a meditative retreat with Master Plo.... Master Kenobi was going to come on as temporary general for the 501st until Anakin returns, but he was called away due to an emergency on Mandalore. The council made the executive decision that I was capable of leading our next mission, and if required, the next campaign on my own."

“Are they allowed to do that? A full company without a General..” inquired Admiral Yularen. The Question would have sounded condescending from anyone else but from the Admiral it seemed as normal as asking the weather. 

“It’s either bend the rules a little or get stuck with some Jedi the boys don’t know. I convinced the council that putting a Jedi they were unfamiliar with after…recent events, wasn’t the best idea. I’d rather have my wrists slapped by some GAR higher ups than hand over control of the 501 to someone the men don’t trust.” Ahsoka lifted a hand to rub her temples. “It isn’t ideal, but the council and I have already discussed that any consequences or failures will be on my shoulders, so it won’t reflect on the men or the company.”

Rex raised a brow, frowning slightly. “Is the council that sure of failure from our next mission?” 

“No..” the tension between the togruta’s brows increased. “At the notice of Master’s leave, the Chancellor sent over a direct inquiry of where blame would fall should something happen in his absence… since Anakin has been in the public eye more and more lately, our missions always seem to be the one with a holorecording droid from the inner rim and if word got out that we failed while we were missing our General… It was best for the Legion and the Council that I accepted full responsibility, and so that’s what I’ve done. Now, mind getting the boys in here so we can get this briefing over with and get on our way?”

“On it.” Responded the Captain, sending out a summons through his comm. The men didn’t need an explanation, when they got a summons and Rex was in the hanger, it meant they were to get a briefing and ship out. Not a minute later, most of the 501 was with them. Some were in full armor minus their helmets, while others looked like they had just woken up from a nap(which they likely had).

“General Skywalker is on a strictly enforced leave of absence by order of the Council, until his return I will be leading the 501st. Meaning, any authority or responsibilities of his now fall to me. In approximately an hour we will be shipping out on the Resolute on our way to Andelm IV, in the Outer Rim Territories. We’ve heard rumors through the network that the Separatists are shipping supplies there to make a base and are beginning mining dedlanite. We’re going to see if the rumors are true, and if they are it’s our job to make sure their progress is halted indefinitely and if we can figure out what they want with dedlanite while we’re there, even better. We’ll go over specific assignments once we get going, we’ll have a fair amount of time spent on hyperspace travel for this one, so I hope you boys haven’t lost your space legs.”

It was easy to see Ahsoka was playing the General. She was standing taller though her posture remained fairly ‘casual’, her chin was titled just up also adding to her height, and a smirk that would have made Skywalker proud was spread across her face even if it didn’t quite reach her eyes. She needed them as comfortable as possible and she knew it, and if she didn’t remind them of their normal leader it was all going to go downhill fast. “Head out and get your gear, I’ll see you all on board.” Ahsoka gave a nod and the crowd of men scattered, some murmuring, others sprinting to their bunks to get their belongings as fast as possible to get back into the action. 

Rex clapped a hand on her shoulder, shooting her a reassuring smile. “Good job Little’Un, you handled that well.” 

She shrugged. “This is gonna be what life’s like in a few years for me anyway, I guess this is just really good practice for when I have my own troops to lead..Master Kenobi would say it’s the will of the force, but who really knows…” 

“You all ready to ship out? It’s easy to get caught up in getting the men ready and to forget yourself.” 

This drew a smile from her. “Rex, you know me, I’ve been ready since before they even told me we were shipping out. I’m always ready.”

“Just checking. I’d hate for us to get to the outer rim only to find out that you forgot your lightsabers.” teased the Captain lightly. 

“I don’t think it’s physically possible for me to forget them at this point Rex, why don’t you worry about yourself? I seem to remember Jesse telling me about that time when you guys went over to Bellassa and you made it planet-side before you figured out you’d left your blasters on your bunk-“

Rex scoffed. “That’s a savage rumor. You should know you can’t trust Jesse’s stories, he’s got a big mouth and a big imagination.” 

“More like you’ve got a big case of denial.” retorted Ahsoka with a grin. “But I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt if you come help me make a plan for the mission.” 

“You don’t have a plan yet?” 

The Togruta rolled her eyes. “Anakin didn’t exactly instill the idea of planning into me, he always taught- and lives by- the sort of ‘fly by the seat of your pants’ kinda plan. Besides, we have time to make a plan which is why I asked you.”

“No, Skywalker has a plan…he just doesn’t follow it.” corrected Rex with a sigh. “But we still have time to come up with one that we can choose to ignore later on.” 

“Why Rex- did you just make a joke?” 

“If I may..” interrupted Admiral Yularen with a soft clearing of his throat. “If you two would stop…whatever it is you’re doing and transition to either prepping or planning for the mission it would be much appreciated. Do you need reminding that this is on your back Commander Tano?” 

This snapped the pair back from their lighthearted banter, they had business to complete and Ahsoka was sure they would have plenty of time for teasing after they returned successfully and made sure she wasn’t getting shipped off to train younglings for the next four years of her life. 

“Well, we’ve got an hour to come up with a plan, we best get to the Resolute before the men start piling in.” Rex gave Yularen a solemn nod as the Admiral made his leave. 

Ahsoka gave what would have to be classified as a frustrated sigh slumping forward before straightening up, setting her shoulders and heading for the ship. “An hour’s all we’ve got, and hopefully all we need. Any ideas?” 

Rex met her brisk pace and fell into step beside her. “Once we’re in the system, I’d probably be best to send in a scouting team first to get the overview of the situation. A single ship should be enough to get a thorough look and also to avoid spooking any Seppies we run into.” 

This warranted a nod. “That’s what I figured, from there we can take the information the scouting team transmits and send in a secondary team to handle demolition. At that point the scouting team can switch to gathering information if there’s any to be found, and the demolition team can start taking out any start of a base or any mines that are in use.” 

“I’d make that two teams for demolition, one to handle structures one to anything or anyone we find planetside. All other troops can remain on the Resolute and wait for a call for backup or an all clear signal. And as long as no pilots are planetside than we’ll also be prepared to combat any Separatist reinforcements.” 

Ahsoka give a quick smile. “Well Captain, that certainly sounds like a plan, and with 45 minutes to go at that.” 

“Let it be known, if we’re anything, it’s efficient.” to say Rex smiled would be a gross exaggeration, but the tension held between his brows relaxed and the corners of his mouth seemed to pull just the slightest bit upwards. 

“Hope you’ve shared some of that efficiency because I’ve got one hell of a conversation to have with the council. If you can, try to get a list of who’s going with what teams before we enter hyperspace, I don’t know how long I’ll be.” with a Wave Ahsoka set out down the hall towards her quarters on the ship and out of site. 

For most reports to the council, Anakin would conduct them at the main communications unit on the bridge, which would give Rex and anyone who cared to ample opportunity to listen in. Ashoka’s more isolated location meant this was both a private and likely lengthy discussion that would either upsetting, uncomfortable, or dreadfully boring. He hoped it was the latter, for her sake at least. 

-

They had been in hyperspace for close to an hour and a half when Ahsoka emerged from her cabin, looking tired and far more weighed down than she had when Rex last saw her.   “I take it the Council isn’t sending us any good news?” questioned the Captain. 

“Quite the contrary actually… there’s going to need to be a change of plans. The council no longer has interest in what they’re aims are on Andelm, they just want it all blown sky high.” 

Rex hesitated. “That doesn’t sound like the kind of news that takes two hours to discuss.” 

Ahsoka shrugged, making eye contact with anything but Rex. “The Council has solid evidence that Grievous’s ship is heading to Andelm as well. If this whole mining situation is s important as they think it is he’s likely to have Ventress with him as well. Which means we’ve got a bigger problem than just some construction droids and a few scientists.”

“The men can handle some Tinnies or a space battle if it comes to that, that’s nothing new. The plan should work fine as is, if anything we send a third team as backup. I don’t see why it’s such a problem.” 

“Rex, the men aren’t what the Council is concerned with.” 

“You? Nothing’s happened yet- how can they have lost confidence in you already-“

“Rex.”

“They haven’t even given you a chance to prove yourself! They have no right to write you out without even letting you lead- they trained you for Kriff’s sake-“

“Rex-“

“You’ve been in this war as long as any General- you know as much as Skywalker-“

“REX.” she hadn’t meant to yell, but that seemed to be the only way to get him to stop rambling. “Rex it’s not my leadership that’s in question. That isn’t the issue. Slow down and think for a minute, anytime Grievous or Ventress are involved, what exactly are Anakin and Master Kenobi doing?”

Rex responded automatically. “Keeping their attention away from the troops, engaging them-“ he stopped, the situation clicking into place. “No.” 

“Rex you don’t even know what I was going to say-“ 

“They’re sending you out to distract them aren’t they? Kenobi and Skywalker together can about handle one of them- I doubt they could handle both. It’s suicide and you aren’t doing it.”

Ahsoka cringed. “Look, it’s both the best option we’ve got and a direct order from the Council, you- we- don’t have a choice in this. I’ll be going in with the scouting team to draw the attention of Ventress, Grievous or both if it comes to that. While I’m keeping them occupied, the scouting team will send back coordinates to three landing sites to best take out whatever outpost they’ve created. You will go in with the main team, and you will ensure that everything is up in flames before you even consider comming me to discuss extraction. After everything’s gone to shit, I’ll rendezvous with the nearest demo team and we’ll all get back here safe happy and successful. There, new plan.”

“This is ridiculous- you can’t honestly be ok with this-“ 

“Rex, how many ‘suicide missions’ have I been on with Anakin? and I’m still here? It’ll be fine. Besides, I’d rather keep all lightsaber wounds away from you and the men. I’ve been there done that, Jedi tend to bounce back, but an encounter with Grievous isn’t something clones generally survive.” 

“I’m not happy about this.” growled the trooper with a scowl. “The General wouldn’t be happy about this- “

“Well Anakin’s not here. Ok? He’s not here, and I’m all you’ve got and I don’t have the leeway to go against the council’s orders. So I’m sorry if this is inconvenient for you, but it’s what’s happening and you can either come to terms with that or you can go take some time to cool off until it hits you that this isn’t my choice it’s just what’s going to happen.” Ahsoka was glaring at him now. “This isn’t exactly how I wanted this all to go either!” 

“Inconvenient? I’m not upset because it’s inconvenient where did you get that kriffing ridiculous idea?!” 

She looked tired, and at this point didn’t have the energy to be exasperated. “Then what is it? Why can’t you just go with this already-“

“Because I can’t lose you like this knowing I’m sending you off to your death like some nerf to the slaughter!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everyone wants me to continue this one but I don't know.....I'm conflicted.... goodness...but, you're all officially caught up! And everything from here out has to be written yet and so you'll have to wait for those rare times when I have time and inspiration to write...whoops..should I have not told you that? Well, I hope you enjoyed and I'd love to hear from you!!!!

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you've enjoyed! The first 19 or so chapters should be up fairly quickly as I move the finished chapters over here, after that you'll all be stuck with my crazy unreliable updating schedule! Please leave a review and let me know what you think!!!


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